


Double Jeopardy

by lookingforthestars



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, F/M, It'll get better, Past Flames, Waige Always Prevails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 05:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11224035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookingforthestars/pseuds/lookingforthestars
Summary: Walter has everything he wants, but a few ill-timed arrivals open old wounds and put it all at risk.





	1. Best Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Pamz for the plot of this story. I hope I do it justice. It's going to start rough and there will be angst, but stick with it, you know all's well that ends well. ;)

She didn't pick up.

It was illogical to take that so personally. At—Walter checked his watch—eight-thirteen in the morning, Paige could be in the shower, or setting out clothes for Ralph, or in the car on her way over. There were wide variations in her morning routine dependent on a number of factors, including whether she'd chosen to hit the snooze button, whether she required more thorough personal maintenance, whether Ralph was coming to the garage first or leaving straight for school…

But she answered. Usually. Nearly always. Perhaps ninety-six percent of the time. And the other times, Paige had returned his call promptly with an apology, even if they were going to see each other soon. Sometimes he was wondering about her plans for breakfast, or he needed to know the location of a file, but often he just wished to say good morning and hear her voice on the days he wasn't able to wake up next to her.

Walter tried to extend her the same courtesy. If he was sitting down to a particularly engrossing project, he set his phone so that only Paige or Ralph could reach him. Cabe had resigned himself to calling Paige to reach Walter when necessary. It was odd, the need to always make himself _available_ to them. But after so many years of doubt and instability, he wanted the two most vital people in his life to feel secure with him, to know that he could be relied on without exception.

He dropped the phone into his pocket and finished securing the buttons on his shirt. The knot in his stomach was growing and making him a little nauseated. Paige wasn't answering his calls for the same reason she hadn't stayed over at the garage in ten days.

Toby deemed it a "rough patch," and Walter didn't have a better term. He knew that every couple had them, and it didn't necessarily spell the end, if both parties were committed and willing to work through the issues. But it had only been five months and sixteen days. Despite beginning their relationship with intense, preexisting feelings, they were not firmly established as a couple. He'd hoped it would take longer for him to screw everything up.

The genius wished it was that simple, though. He wished it was one easily defined mistake, an error that he could own and seek to correct. But it was more complex than that, and even as a person who thrived on complexity, Walter had no idea where to start. It was the job offer she received from a client and kept quiet. The case he prolonged with his own admittedly presumptuous behavior, causing them both to miss Ralph's thesis presentation. The tense conversation he had with his parents, which didn't involve Paige in any way yet seemed to upset her. The constant attempts to change the subject when Walter proposed the efficient and—he'd assumed—mutually agreeable idea of moving in together.

They'd been through worse, he supposed. They had "rough patches" as friends, usually overcome by Walter doing something profoundly stupid like diving into shark-infested waters. He didn't think they were at that point, yet. But if she was ignoring his calls…well, it certainly wasn't a positive development.

Walter busied himself brewing coffee and hunting for the cinnamon, which he had a sneaking suspicion Toby hid after complaining vocally about its scent the day before. Though he was generally pleased about the presence of the other team members, he found himself growing more and more restless every time the garage's door opened. Finally, he heard Ralph enter, chattering to his mother about the discovery of a new moon orbiting Jupiter. He smiled.

"Hey, Walter." Ralph popped into the kitchen, grabbing a banana from a bowl on the table. Walter was fairly sure Ralph was the only one that ate them. "You missed it last night. I beat your Mario Kart record. Mom couldn't even come close."

He suppressed a grin, glancing up at Paige, who was rolling her eyes. "You should let her win sometimes."

Ralph frowned. "That would be dishonest."

Walter opened his mouth to refute the boy's statement, but Paige preempted him, placing her hand on Ralph's shoulder. "Honey, can you give me and Walter a minute?" The young genius swung his eyes between them and shrugged, shoving another banana into his backpack on his way out. Paige waited until he was gone to move closer, kissing Walter's cheek and taking the mug he offered. "Hey. I'm sorry about this morning. I know you called, I was just rushing around and I—."

"It's okay," he interrupted, trying not to let on how much he'd been bothered by it. He didn't want to come off as demanding or possessive. "Did you and Ralph have fun last night?"

"Yeah. I wish you'd been there, though." Walter felt a small measure of relief. He hated the distance from Paige and Ralph, despite agreeing to her request for "breathing room." But she missed his presence, and that was a good sign. Paige took a long sip of her coffee. "There's something I need to tell you, and Ralph doesn't know yet, so just—."

They were both distracted by the door swinging open again, and the very audible exclamation that followed from Ralph. "Dad!"

Walter felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Paige's eyes widened, but she wasn't nearly as surprised as he was. This was what she was preparing to tell him. He followed as she rushed out of the kitchen, another uncomfortable pang of jealousy striking him at the sight of Drew embracing a grinning Ralph. Happy raised her eyebrows at him, and he shook his head, sure that his confusion was clearly written on his face.

"Drew?" Paige pressed her lips together, her voice quiet but annoyed. "I thought you were going straight to the apartment."

Drew glanced around at four geniuses that were no longer pretending to do anything but watch the scene unfold. "I did. But you forgot to leave the key."

"Damn it," she said under her breath, grabbing her purse off her desk and fishing around until she found the key in a side pocket. Paige practically shoved it into his palm, and he slid it inside his pocket, bringing his other hand up to ruffle Ralph's hair. "I set up the guest room for you. Anything else you need should be in the hall closet. Are you still okay to pick Ralph up from school?"

"Yeah. I can take him too, since I'm already here. If he wants."

Ralph looked up at his mom, his hopeful expression saying everything. Paige sighed. "Okay. But you have to eat breakfast first. You've got ten minutes before you need to leave."

"Come on kiddo, I'll fix you something." Drew touched her arm, the brief second of contact making Walter's back stiffen. "It's good to see you, Paige."

"Yep. You too." Drew nodded in Walter's direction before turning his full attention to his son, drawing him into a conversation about school. Paige ignored the curious stares of the other geniuses as she took Walter's hand and led him in the opposite direction of the kitchen, stopping when she reached a quiet corner behind the ramp and turning to face him. "I'm sorry. He wasn't supposed to just show up here. I wanted to tell you first."

"He's staying with you? In your apartment?" Suddenly all Walter could remember was the three of them having dinner while he watched through her window, his intention to confess his feelings to her crumbling in an instant. He knew that was a long time ago, and things were different now. But it didn't make the thought of them living under the same roof for an unspecified period of time much easier to handle. "Why didn't you tell me? Or Ralph?"

Paige narrowed her eyes, seeming irritated by his barrage of questions. "I wasn't even sure he _was_ coming. You know how Drew is. I didn't want to get Ralph's hopes up until I was sure. And yes, he's staying with us. He came to see his son. Why should I make him stay at a hotel? This way they get the most time together. I really…" She shut her eyes and blew out a breath to calm herself. "I really did mean to tell you, Walter. But there wasn't a good time."

Their communication hadn't been very open lately. And Walter wasn't entirely sure that he had a right to this kind of information, according to relationship norms. But he wasn't thrilled about being blindsided. "How long is he—."

Paige jumped as the door banged open for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and Cabe's voice rang through the garage. He was talking to someone, presumably a client. " _Oh my god_ ," she muttered, clenching her jaw. "We'll finish this later."

Walter nearly ran into Paige as she rounded the corner and stopped suddenly, staring slack-jawed at the figure by the door. "Hey guys," Tim greeted as the agent slapped his back, smiling enthusiastically. "I'm in town for a few weeks and Cabe asked me to help on your case."

Toby cleared his throat. "Oh look, the gang's all here."


	2. Oh, It's You

_This must be a joke._

Paige glanced at Walter, who looked like he was having an aneurysm, and back to her second ex to walk through the door in less time than it took to make Ralph a bagel.

"Tim. Hi," she said to break the resounding silence that might have only existed in her head. She was still the liaison, and it was her job to…liaise, no matter how awkward the situation. Paige swallowed to steady her voice. "It's good to see you. What case?"

"We're sending aid to Malawi, but there's an issue with the supply chain. Large chunks of our shipments are getting lost or ruined during transport. They want us to follow every step of the process to find the weak link and suggest improvements." Cabe gestured to his former protégé. "It's possible that these interruptions aren't an accident. If we run into trouble, you're gonna want Tim there to back you up."

She nodded. "Of course."

"Understood," Walter chimed in for the first time. Paige let out an imperceptible sigh of relief that he was handling this so well. About a second too soon. "Are you sure you want to join us on this mission? We could be gone for several days. Perhaps you would rather spend that time with your family."

Paige whipped around, narrowing her eyes at the genius. He was so rigid he would probably shatter into a million pieces if he was touched. But Tim merely smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "How much time can you handle with your family?"

"Fair enough." Walter's stance softened slightly, though he was still far from relaxed. Paige was sure Walter hadn't missed the trainee for one second, but he still harbored some guilt over the circumstances surrounding Tim's departure. And he was not one to let go of guilt easily. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible. I can finish briefing you on the way." The agent turned to her with a concerned expression. "Can you get a sitter for Ralph? I know it's short notice, but we could really use your help."

Paige's mind raced. Leaving Ralph with Drew was an unnerving proposition, but so was sending Tim and Walter to a foreign country without a buffer. This was an important assignment and it didn't deserve to be drowned out by their battling egos. "Actually…"

"Tim?" Seven pairs of eyes turned to the boy who had just exited the kitchen with Drew, backpack slung over his shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, kid." Tim smiled warmly. While Ralph never quite _loved_ Tim the way he loved Walter—and vice versa—they'd forged some kind of connection. Behind her, Walter tensed again, and she reached back to squeeze his hand, feeling him return the gesture almost desperately. "Helping out the team again. Hijack any missiles lately?"

Ralph shrugged. "Nope. I have restricted computer access since I read a paper on nuclear fission."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It wasn't exactly…published. Or public."

"He hacked it," Drew supplied helpfully, no doubt empathizing with the confusion on Tim's face. He extended his arm for a handshake. "Drew Baker. I'm Ralph's father."

That was debatable, but fortunately for everyone, Walter did not choose that moment to debate it.

"Tim Armstrong. Ralph's told me a lot about you."

Drew's features lit up in recognition. "Oh, Tim, you're Paige's—." She coughed loudly, knowing there was no good way for him to end that sentence. Drew noticed her glare and backtracked accordingly. "Former…colleague. Ralph mentioned you too. You guys heading out?"

"Yeah," Paige interrupted. Drew and Tim's interaction was probably tearing a hole in time and space, and besides, they were going to be late for their flight if they didn't leave soon. "Drew, can I talk to you?"

"We'll head out in ten," Cabe announced, nodding in her direction.

The team scattered—Tim to greet Happy, Toby, and Sylvester, Cabe to make a call on his phone, Ralph to gather his textbooks from Paige's desk. Walter, however, didn't move an inch until Paige spun around to face him. "Go pack up your equipment. Let me work this out and I'll be right there."

"You're going to let Drew take care of Ralph?" The genius's voice was cold and she tried not to take it personally when he dropped her hand, knowing he was every bit as overwhelmed as she was, if not more. "I don't like that idea, Paige."

"Okay, well I don't really have a choice. You're on edge and you're going to need me. And Drew's gotten more responsible over the last decade, give him some credit." Paige heard familiar frustration seeping into her tone, and she tamped it down. She needed to diffuse the tension, not exacerbate it. "Can you just trust me on this?"

 _That guy is his father, Walter. You are not._ She shoved the thought out of her head immediately. Those words had almost broken Walter, once, and even though Paige didn't think she was required to give the genius a say in this, she would never pull that trump card again.

Walter looked up, his expression turning to stone before he muttered "fine" and stormed off. Paige prayed that her suspicions would be proven wrong, but she was out of luck as she turned to find Drew standing behind her, hands resting casually in his pockets. "I see O'Brien is still not a fan."

"He's…" _Not having a great day, and neither am I._ "Sorry about that. He's just protective of Ralph." Paige sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I know this wasn't the plan, but…"

"It's fine, Paige. I've got him. Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

"Two days? Maybe three, it's rarely longer though." The liaison's chest tightened and she wondered if she wasn't experiencing all the same doubts as Walter. She always hated being away from Ralph, and Drew was hardly the model of stability. It was different when Ralph visited him, when they were on vacation and there was no pressure on Drew to be a parent or even an adult. She shook her head. Ralph could be mature enough for both of them if necessary. "Call me if anything comes up. I'm serious."

"Yeah. Be safe." For a second, she thought he was going to hug her, and was grateful when he didn't. Even if Walter wasn't watching, one of the geniuses almost certainly was, and she didn't need any comments from the peanut gallery. "See you in a few days."

Ralph approached next, dutifully allowing Paige to hold him tight and plant a kiss on his head. "Sorry I have to leave, baby. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, mom. We'll be fine." He grimaced slightly as she stroked his hair. Paige knew he was too old—or at least believed he was—for all of her momming, but she couldn't resist. She would never admit as much, but a small part of her acknowledged how dangerous her job could be, and if any of these assignments happened to be her last, she didn't want to regret the amount of affection she showed her son. "Are you okay? It's kind of weird, dad and Tim both being back."

"It's…" She frowned, searching for an answer that wouldn't sound like a lie but also didn't contain any expletives. "Temporary. Be good for your dad and don't set the apartment on fire. I love you."

"Me too. Bye mom." Paige gave him one last peck and waved goodbye as he disappeared through the garage door with Drew. The rest of the team was already packed—they were nothing if not efficient—and Paige slid open her desk drawer to retrieve her go bag, hoping she'd remembered to refill her supply of clean underwear.

"Ralph's dad, huh?" The liaison jumped, suppressing her irritation at her past sneaking up on her in more ways than one. "You guys back together?"

"What? No. Cabe didn't tell you?" Tim shook his head and Paige busied herself with stuffing a sweater into the front pocket of her duffel. He was going to figure out soon enough, and she had nothing to be ashamed of. Her relationship with Tim was over a long time ago. "Walter and I are dating."

The trainee's eyebrows quirked up and he glanced at the genius, who was making a visibly concerted effort not to look at them. Tim pressed his lips together to hold back what was clearly an amused smile. "Hm. I guess that's why you both look so happy right now."

She made a face at his retreating back as he walked away from her desk. God, had he always been that smug? In her peripheral vision, she could see Walter looking at her, but she barely caught his gaze before he dropped it again.

Paige zipped her duffel. This was going to be a long trip.


	3. Distance

Walter couldn't sleep.

It was a two-and a-half-hour flight from Los Angeles to Texas, where the aid was originating. Depending on the obstacles they encountered, the trip could extend to five or six days, or longer. While the promised payment was more than sufficient for that period of time, the thought of Drew caring for Ralph for nearly a week displeased him.

Ralph was, biologically, Drew's child. Far be it for Walter to debate the science of genetics. And the young genius had proven his ability to thrive even under the care of sitters, teachers, and other adults who failed to understand him. Drew was no different than anyone else whose ignorance Ralph was forced to rise above.

But Ralph's sitters didn't throw Walter into chaos every time they showed up. They didn't make him fear losing the two most valuable relationships in his life.

He felt more like a dad to Ralph now than any time in the past. When the three of them were in Paige's apartment, eating spaghetti and discussing a case, they were a family. When he accompanied Paige to one of her son's presentations, and they held hands while watching Ralph proudly, they were a family. When Ralph fainted at school, and they waited in tense silence in the waiting room of the hospital until the doctor assuaged their fears, they were a family.

Walter knew Ralph saw it that way, too. But Ralph's excitement over Drew's sudden reappearance—one Paige had barely trusted the man to make—still shook him.

Paige shifted slightly, and Walter balanced his tablet on one knee while checking to make sure she was comfortable. Despite a patch of mild turbulence, which Walter was sure would frighten her, given their history, she'd fallen asleep soundly an hour earlier. Her head was on his shoulder, and he could hear her steady breathing if he concentrated on it. His arm was starting to cramp between them and he stretched it with as little movement as possible before sliding it around to her back. Rather than distracting him, her close proximity centered him and allowed him greater focus. He knew conditions were not ideal between them, that she needed time, that he made mistakes and so had she, but god, he missed holding her like this.

In more private circumstances, he would've kissed her head and surrendered to sleep with her. But he couldn't relax when a former Navy SEAL was sitting six feet away, going over a report with Cabe and casting sideways glances at Paige far too frequently.

She'd hardly mentioned the trainee after their relationship ended, and virtually never once she and Walter were together. He couldn't complain about that. It was history, a footnote in her life just as Linda was in his. But now he realized how many questions were left unanswered. He had no idea if it was amicable or contentious, if it had been her decision or if she was blindsided, if there was unfinished business between them. Their interactions seemed mostly polite and detached, but Walter could be missing the subtext. He often did.

He swallowed, refocusing on the shipment schedules in front of him. There was no time to dwell on his concerns. They had a job to do.

* * *

Paige blinked, shutting her eyes tightly when a stream of bright light fell through the window. She felt like she'd been sleeping for hours. Vaguely, she recalled passing out on Walter's shoulder, but he was on the other side of the plane, engrossed in a map with Sylvester and Happy. Her hand traversed the hard ledge until it reached the pillow underneath her head, and she smiled as she realized that the genius must have left it there, along with the sweatshirt draped over her side.

She hadn't meant to be out of commission for so long. It wasn't even noon yet. But there was a great deal of scrambling to get the apartment ready the night before when Drew confirmed that he was flying in—without arousing Ralph's suspicions—along with a few hours of restlessly staring at the ceiling, wondering if she was doing the right thing. The trip was planned to introduce Ralph to Natalie, Drew's girlfriend of about eight months. That was nearly derailed when Drew called to inform Paige that he and Natalie had broken up, but he sounded so distraught that Paige thought spending time with Ralph would be beneficial for him anyway. Allowing him to stay at the apartment wasn't part of the original itinerary, but she had to think about what would be best for her son, not just for herself.

She still didn't know if she'd done that. It killed her to leave, just as much as it killed her to send Ralph away to Portland for a week. While she had no doubt that he was physically safe with his father, Drew never quite succeeded in connecting with him mentally or emotionally. But it would only be a few days. Perhaps they would shock her and achieve some sort of breakthrough.

Paige did know it wasn't fair to spring everything on Walter that way. He was extraordinarily protective of Ralph and unlikely to ever fully trust or respect Drew. It was true that she didn't see the point in dredging it up if Drew's visit fell through, but maybe she'd also just wanted to spare herself a difficult conversation. Maybe she didn't want her choices questioned. For eleven years, the only voice in her son's life was hers. Tim never dared to challenge her when it came to Ralph, but Walter was…different. Since day one, he hadn't hesitated to stand up to Paige if he thought he knew better. Sometimes he did. Sometimes he didn't. It was never easy to hear, especially if she was already doubting herself.

They were supposed to be partners. But Walter wasn't the only person who could push someone away when things got complicated.

She yawned and fumbled for her phone. No missed calls meant nothing serious had happened yet. Fortunately, the team wouldn't need her until they were on the ground, so she had a little more time to rest before they landed. There were dozens of people involved in the supply chain, any one of whom could be intentionally or unintentionally sabotaging the aid shipments. She was better at spotting a lie than the geniuses were, and if they suspected someone, they weren't likely to be tactful about it. She needed to be on her game so she could do what she did best and keep the peace. It was a significant undertaking and they needed all the allies they could find.

"We're landing in twenty minutes."

So much for that. Paige dragged her hand over her face, wondering how long Tim had been sitting there. "Thanks."

"Yeah." But he didn't move, just hunched forward slightly and clasped his hands together between his knees. "Uh, sorry about…earlier. That was rude. I was caught off guard." He met her eyes and shrugged. "Though I probably shouldn't have been."

In her grogginess, it took a second for Paige to understand what he was referring to. She shot a glance at Walter, who was deep in a conversation with the mechanic that she couldn't hear over the din of the plane. She wondered whether Tim still would have come back if he'd known. "Thanks." She could just leave it at that, but the elephant in the cabin was trumpeting too loudly for her to ignore. "What are you doing here, Tim?"

"I was checking in on some of the guys from Homeland, and I ran into Cabe. He suggested—."

"No." Paige shook her head, cutting him off. "You knew this would be awkward. You have limited time in the U.S. Why are you here?"

Tim pressed his lips together, a long silence falling between them. She'd almost given up on an answer when he sighed. "If circumstances were different, I would've stayed with Scorpion. I meant it when I said that I care about the work you guys do. I saw another shot at that and I took it." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "If you're asking whether I'm here for you, then no. But it is nice to see you. And Ralph."

Paige wasn't so vain as to assume that he was there to win her back. They both knew that would never work. But she wasn't sure she completely believed his explanation, either. "No trouble then?"

Tim raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by the warning in her voice. But things were already threatening to crumble around her in ten different directions and she wasn't in the mood to play nice. "Sure. No trouble."


	4. Old Habits

Texas was hot.

Paige took another long swig from her water bottle. Even the flowy red shirt she was wearing had started to cling to her skin and she had half a mind to strip down to the tank underneath. She'd learned a thing or two about layering since she joined Scorpion. They were equally likely to end up in Antarctica and South America at a moment's notice, and it wasn't easy to pack a go bag that accommodated every climate on Earth. She supposed she was just happy not to need the parka she kept in the garage's coat closet.

"I personally inspect every shipment. The logs will show nothing is missing when it leaves the warehouse." Amanda, their first point of contact, handed Walter a tablet, and he passed it to Sylvester, who scrolled through it rapidly. Amanda looked confused—a common reaction from people who didn't know how the speed at which he processed information—but pressed on. "I'm sorry to hear that these supplies aren't getting where they need to be, but the problem isn't with us."

Walter turned to Sylvester. "Any evidence that the logs have been falsified?"

The woman frowned. "I'm sorry, what?"

"We can't take your word for it," Walter answered in a clipped voice, barely sparing a glance at Amanda. "Our assignment is to conduct a thorough investigation of…"

Paige cleared her throat loudly, a sign the genius had long ago learned meant he was stepping out of line. He trailed off and pressed his lips together. "Thank you for your help," she said with a professional and hopefully conciliatory smile. "We'll let you know if we need anything else. We should be out of your hair soon."

"Um...sure." Amanda threw Walter an offended glare—another all-too-common reaction—before returning to her enviably air-conditioned office. The rest of the team followed her lead and scattered to begin their examination of the warehouse. Even if there was no active sabotage at that location, the team was tasked with suggesting ways to increase efficiency. Paige had an inkling that they were also trying to avoid whatever was about to transpire between her and Walter.

His forehead creased in confusion, a habit she found charming in every context other than when she'd just stopped him from insulting a client. "She could be lying about her involvement."

"Do you have a reason to think she  _is_ involved?" Paige raised her eyebrow, sighing when Walter didn't answer. "Then maybe save the interrogation. We still have two more stops and there's not enough time to accuse everybody we meet."

The genius looked chastised for a moment, and she instantly regretted the sarcasm dripping from her voice. This wasn't a banner day for either of them. Tim was mostly sticking to Cabe's side and keeping his head down, but Paige knew his unexpected appearance was throwing Walter off track. They wouldn't survive this mission by attacking each other.

But then his face hardened again, and he mumbled an unconvincing "sorry" before spinning around and disappearing in Sly's direction.  _Son of a..._

Paige took a deep breath to calm herself. His EQ was the first to shut down when he was overwhelmed, and if she was reeling from the events of the last five hours, she couldn't imagine what he was feeling. She still had a right to be pissed when he walked away from her, though.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and Paige fought the temptation to ignore it. They were on a job and, as liaison, it was most often her contact information listed for Scorpion. She tugged it out of her pocket and felt a twinge of panic when Drew's name appeared on the screen. "Is Ralph okay?" she blurted out as soon as the call connected.

"Yes?" Drew sounded unsure, although the logical part of her brain realized that he was probably just startled by her abruptness. "Yes. He's fine. He's at school. Do you have a minute to talk?"

Paige glanced at the office, where Amanda was still working. Everyone else was on a lunch break, leaving her some time before she had to broker peace between the geniuses and the other employees. "Sure. What's up?"

"Uh..." Drew blew out a breath. That was never a good sign. He'd always done that before delivering news he knew she wouldn't want to hear.  _It's been five hours, what could possibly have happened in that time?_ "You're not coming back until Wednesday, right?"

She shrugged, even though he couldn't see her. "At the earliest. Our cases have a tendency to be…" Paige rolled her eyes up to stare at the ceiling. "Unpredictable. But your flight isn't until Saturday, I'll be back way before then."

"Yeah, and that hasn't changed, it's just…" Every pause was making her more agitated, and she was just about to order him to spit it out when he spoke again. "Jimmy, my old coach, is living in California now. Remember him? He found out I was in town and wants to talk. There might be a job opening up. So I was thinking that maybe Ralph's sitter could come over and watch him for a day, really just an afternoon, or maybe there are just some friends he can stay with…" He stopped when his request was met with silence. "Paige? You still there?"

"Are you—?" Paige looked around. The geniuses were out of earshot, but she dropped her voice anyway. "Are you kidding me? I invited you to spend a week with your son and you want to bail already?"

"Paige, come on." She could just imagine his faux indignation, the same expression he'd plastered on the first time she accused him of cheating, before he stopped bothering to deny it. "It's one day. And it's a good opportunity. Can you imagine if I was working in California? Ralph and I would have way more time together than just a week."

Her jaw clenched.  _Drew's gotten more responsible over the last decade, give him some credit._ Those were her exact words to Walter, but this sounded a lot like history repeating itself. "Drew, I'm working," she hissed, starting to feel a dull pain from her teeth grinding together. "I trusted you to take Ralph while I was gone. For once in your life, put your son ahead of your job."

"Well, that's rich. Which one of us is here with him?" Paige could tell from his frozen silence that he immediately recognized his mistake. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

If she had been frustrated with Walter earlier, she wanted to set Drew on fire now. But listing all of the ways her ex failed them would take the rest of his natural life, and Paige didn't have the time or energy to start that unending fight. She sunk her teeth hard into her bottom lip. "No. I'm putting my foot down. You spend the whole week with Ralph, or you get on the next plane home, and his sitter fills in. You can call me when you decide." She lowered her volume a little more. "And if you'd really wanted to settle in California, you would have done it twelve years ago."

Forcefully pressing the "end call" button was less satisfying that slamming down a receiver, but it accomplished the same job. Was it childish to hang up on him? Absolutely. But she was tired of letting his whims dictate her entire life and disappoint her son. She hoped he would make the right choice. Ralph deserved that much.

"You okay?" Paige jumped at the shrink's voice, then breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't Walter. She would have to tell him eventually, but if he overheard that call, he'd already be halfway through erasing Drew's digital existence.

"Yeah. Fine," she muttered as she turned around to face Toby, shoving the phone back into her pocket. "Just Drew being...Drew."

He smirked. "I can't imagine having to deal with any of my exes for the sake of a child. I'm pretty sure one of them still has a hit out on me."

She couldn't tell if he was joking. Paige crossed her arms in front of her, hunching down to stare at her feet. "I have to do it for Ralph."

"I know."

"But it's not always easy."

"I don't think anything about today has been easy for you." Toby rocked back and forth on his heels, offering her a sympathetic smile. "You holding up alright?"

Paige blinked. She wasn't in the mood to discuss it. "Shouldn't you be helping the team?"

"Amanda's clean. No red flags in the other employee records. Beyond that, there aren't many secrets I can divine from a forklift or a stash of cans. I doubt we'll dig up any dirt here." He cocked his head in a way that made Paige one hundred percent sure he wasn't going to let things go. "Is Ralph okay?"

"For now. But if Drew lets him down again..." She dragged one hand over her mouth, partially because her jaw was still aching and partially to clear the sweat that was collecting on her skin. "Sometimes I just get tired of being the only one left to pick up the pieces."

"But you aren't the only one. You know that, right?" Paige followed his gaze as it traveled to Walter, who was frowning and scribbling what were probably equations on a tablet. "It's not just about your history with Drew. You know how he feels about Ralph. He hates the idea of that kid being hurt again." The shrink pursed his lips, turning back to her. But her eyes stayed on Walter. In her heart, she already knew Toby was right. "I get that things between you and Walt are a little rocky right now. But he's on your side. Don't fight him so hard."


	5. Ignorance

_You have work to do. Stop acting like an imbecile._

Texas was clean. Part of him—a small, surprisingly petty part—had hoped that smug coordinator Amanda was hiding something. He didn't like the snide looks she gave the team, even though he should have been used to them by now. But with a few tweaks to the machinery, courtesy of Happy, and Sylvester's tutorial on the most efficient packing methods, everything appeared to be running smoothly.

The longer they went without finding the root cause of the supply problems, the longer Ralph was stuck with Drew, and he was stuck with Tim Armstrong. It was remarkable how one day could stretch on for so long.

And it was getting longer. They were two hours into an eleven-hour flight to Mauritania and while Walter always found effective methods of distraction to pass the time, being in close quarters was making him more stir-crazy than usual. The version of himself that spent months insisting he wasn't bothered by Tim's pursual of Paige was long gone. Their relationship was over, but every quiet glance in her direction, every easy joke he cracked to her, every time they were within five feet of each other stirred up memories that Walter wasn't prepared to relive.

He had been abjectly miserable watching them together, and he wondered if that made him selfish. He wanted her to be happy. He was willing not to interfere, at least not directly. But now that he knew what it was like to be with Paige— _really_ be with her—he couldn't stomach the thought of her and Tim picking up where they left off. Walter didn't think he'd ever be able to go back.

"How's the report coming?"

Walter blinked, taking a second to register Cabe's question. The genius typically hated being drawn out of deep thought, but considering the fruitless nature of his musings, it was probably for the best. "Fine."

The agent glanced down at the blank document open on Walter's tablet. "Clearly."

"I have nine hours. More than enough time to explain that we came up empty." He tapped his fingers on the screen. "Do you need something?"

"Just checking on you," Cabe said, unfazed by Walter's bluntness. "You're wound up so tight right now you could pop out a diamond. You gonna make it through the rest of this trip?"

The genius pressed his lips together. "I'm fine."

"That's interesting, because no one's expecting you to be." Walter raised his eyebrows questioningly and Cabe offered him a look that was either sympathetic or empathetic. He understood the difference between those emotions in theory, but not often in practice. "You think Toby would keep it together if Happy's exes all showed up at the same time?"

"The circumstances are not ideal. But personal complications can wait until we've finished with this case. I have always advocated separating our work and—."

"Cut the crap, kid." Cabe shook his head. For a normal, he'd always been irritatingly capable of seeing through Walter's defense mechanisms. "You're on everyone's case, and nothing has even gone down yet. Keep compartmentalizing and see how fast you implode. Or work things out with Paige and get your head clear."

He looked over at the liaison, who was grinning as her fingers flew over her phone's keyboard. He assumed she was texting Ralph. He'd never seen that expression on her face with anyone else. Walter turned back to Cabe. "She's upset with me."

"Yeah, well." The agent shrugged. "Welcome to relationships."

* * *

Walter hadn't intended to fall asleep, but his eyes were heavy by the time he put the finishing touches on his unnecessary but mandatory report. There wasn't much more they could do until they reached the next site, anyway. And he'd been sleeping a little less peacefully the past week.

"Morning." Walter smiled. He liked waking up to Paige's voice. He liked waking up to Paige. She was slumped down in the seat next to him, folding the corner of a page in her paperback before closing it. It was one of those ten-cent fictional trifles she liked to pick up at yard sales or secondhand stores. He couldn't understand why she didn't prefer the wider selection and customization of ebooks, but she insisted it wasn't healthy to stare at screens for too long. "Our ETA is three hours. Cabe said he had some questions for you, but they could wait until you got up."

"Thanks," he said, shuffling upward to stretch his back and crack his neck. She smiled warmly at him and he wondered what, exactly, had changed since they sniped at each other in Texas. Perhaps they'd both just required additional rest and time to sort their thoughts. "How's Ralph?"

"Good. I talked to him a few hours ago. He misses us."

_Us._ He was still astonished by how much weight that word carried. "And he's...okay...with Drew?"

There was a minute change in her expression, but it passed quickly and Walter figured he must have imagined it. "Yep. All good."

"Good." Walter shifted sideways in the seat, tucking his left leg underneath the right so he could face her. The rest of the team was either asleep or sitting far enough away to give them a modicum of privacy. "So, uh...Cabe suggested that I should...talk to you." He cleared his throat. "I've been rude. To you and everyone else. I'm sorry. I'm…I'm s-struggling."

Every time he opened up to Paige, there was an element of uncertainty. She assured him there was no right or wrong way to discuss his feelings, as long as he did. But distilling complex emotions into the appropriate words seemed virtually impossible. He had no idea how normals managed it.

"I know," she answered gently, bringing one hand up to run through his hair. He preferred it shorter, from a standpoint of practicality, but she was partial to his grown-out curls. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Drew. And Tim…" Paige sighed. "It's like you and I fought through all this stuff to get where we are, but we can't seem to leave it behind."

"Yes," he said, relieved that she understood. "A-And it's difficult for me, since I don't have the full story."

She furrowed her brows. "About what?"

"About you and Tim." He dropped his voice, even though he was fairly sure the former trainee couldn't hear him. "I'm well aware of the circumstances surrounding your parting ways with Drew, but I don't...I don't know where you and Tim stand."

"We broke up. A while ago. We don't  _stand_ anywhere."

"Of course." Walter blew out a breath. Cabe was right, it was better to address this openly. He felt the weight lifting off his chest already. "It's just that you've never discussed why your relationship ended. If it was mutual, then there should be no lingering resentment. But if one of you cut ties against the other person's wishes, then seeing each other will almost certainly cause complications that we should be prepared for."

Paige leaned back, dropping her hand into her lap. "So...you think Tim dumped me and now I'm going to cause a scene?"

"Of course not." Walter was confused. She seemed oddly defensive, considering he was trying to approach the problem constructively rather than emotionally. Sulking had been unproductive. "But Tim's presence on this mission would be less disconcerting if you provided me with an accurate picture of events. And yet…" His forehead creased as she stared at him with narrowed eyes. "You don't...seem...to want to."

"No, I don't." She set her jaw, a sure sign that she was mad, though he didn't understand why it would bother her so much if it really was all in the past. "It was a failed relationship that went on much longer than it should. I don't like to talk about it because I don't like to think about it." She shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. I know you want the facts, but if I start dredging all that up then it's just going to upset me and hurt you."

Paige was acting irrationally. They'd discussed his brief and ill-advised romance with Linda, as well as his few previous girlfriends. He knew a fair amount about her life with Drew—enough to make his blood boil when he thought about it. Her reaction didn't make any sense.

Heat prickled on Walter's skin, his mind immediately jumping to the worst-case scenarios. "What did he do?"

"It's not like that. Just..." Paige brushed a few strands of hair out of her face as she settled back against her seat with a thud. "Forget about it, Walter. And let's get this case over with so we can go home."


	6. Hindsight

_Will stay with Ralph the whole week. Sorry about the confusion._

Paige rolled her eyes. It was so typical of Drew to worm his way out of a situation without accepting any kind of responsibility. He was a master of that when they were together, and she was too young and naive at the time to demand much more from him. It wasn't until he left that she finally understood his manipulation for what it was.

But Ralph would be pleased. He didn't need to know how exasperated she was with Drew. He just needed to enjoy an uninterrupted visit with his father.

"Tweedledee?"

Paige closed out of the text and shoved the phone back into her pocket. "What?"

Happy craned around the truck's hood, gesturing to her with a wrench. "Drew and Tim. Tweedledee. Tweedledum." She went back to working on the engine, as if that explained everything.

"Um…" Paige frowned, suddenly wondering if the whole team had been calling them that behind her back. "Yeah. I guess. He was just giving me an update on Ralph."

"You don't trust him," Happy said matter-of-factly, not bothering to look up. "The doc said it's written all over your face. You think he'll disappoint Ralph again."

Paige wasn't sure why she'd expected Toby to keep his observations, or their chat in Texas, to himself. But her anxiety was so glaring lately that the team probably didn't need the world's smartest psychiatrist to tip them off. "He's not inspiring a lot of confidence. But I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Mm. Pass me the oil." Paige picked a black canister off the ground and placed it into Happy's outstretched hand. "I hope he appreciates how great your kid is."

"So do I." She bent down, leaning her weight on her elbows near the exposed engine bay. "You're the only reason he's still in Ralph's life, you know. What you said about Patrick."

The mechanic tilted her head up, an indecipherable expression on her face. "Yeah, well. I had no idea what my dad would be like when I said that. I got lucky. Mostly." Happy visited Patrick as much as possible, even though she never liked to talk about it afterward. No one pressed. Parents had always been a sore subject among the geniuses. "Regret taking my advice?"

Paige sighed. "I'll let you know at the end of the week. It's kind of a mess."

"Speaking of," Happy added, wiggling a cable loose and peering at the connector. "What the hell is up with you and Tweedledum?"

"Tim?" It occurred to Paige that she would only encourage Happy by responding to those nicknames, but now they were stuck in her brain too. "Nothing."

"Sure, that's why you flipped out when Walt asked you about the breakup."

Blood rushed to Paige's face. Walter had respected her wishes and dropped the issue, but her evasiveness made the last three hours of the flight to Mauritania a little awkward, to say the least. Once they were on the ground, Paige hastily volunteered to assist Happy in upgrading the site's delivery equipment, assuming the mechanic would be the only one with no interest in her personal life.

Toby's nosiness was clearly rubbing off. "There's no way you heard all that. Not on the plane."

Happy shrugged. "If I couldn't hear people talking over machinery, I'd never be able to have a conversation."

"You  _always_ say you can't hear us when you're working."

"It's not very often I want a conversation." She grabbed a greasy rag and searched for a clean corner to wipe her face with. "So what, he cheat on you? I'd be happy to test out this wrench on him."

Paige was oddly touched that Happy was willing to go to bat for her, perhaps too literally. But… "If you were eavesdropping, then you already know what I told Walter. Tim didn't  _do_ anything. Long distance just...didn't work out."

"Bullpoop. You would've come clean about that. What really happened?"

She shook her head. "Happy, I don't want to talk about it."

"Paige," the other woman parroted. "Respectfully, we're stuck six thousand miles away from home with this guy, so I think that we deserve to know if he's a total creep, because—."

"It wasn't him, it was me," she snapped, immediately pressed her lips together. The garage they were in was separated from the office building where the rest of the team had been working for just over an hour, but with Paige's luck, someone would manage to overhear. She dropped her voice. "Okay? I panicked when Walter asked, because…"

Happy raised her eyebrows, giving Paige her rare full attention. "Because?"

She didn't have to explain herself. She didn't owe Happy anything. But maybe...maybe saying it loud would help her understand why she'd shut down on Walter earlier. "You can't repeat any of this." Happy nodded and Paige swallowed, twisting so that her back was pressed against the driver's side door. "I was different. When I was with Tim. I was hurt, and confused, and I took it out on Walter. Constantly. I blamed him for everything that went wrong." She bit her lip, feeling herself choke up and pushing it all back down. She'd known this wouldn't be easy to relive. "Not just him. The whole team. Even Ralph. For a while, it was like...I stopped understanding him. I stopped trying. How could I do that? How could I forget how special he is?" Paige shifted uncomfortably, hugging her arms to her chest despite the heat. "Scorpion is my family. This team changed my life, and I was so caught up in trying to find some kind of normalcy that I lost sight of everything that was important. I don't talk about it because I'm embarrassed. I don't like who I turned into."

Happy was quiet for a long minute, processing, and then she shrugged. "Alright, fine, say all of that is true. Walter was there, he knew. Looks like he got over it."

"But he doesn't…" Paige let out a frustrated sigh. "He doesn't know that he was right. Tim did dump me. And it sucked." Happy shot her a questioning look, waiting for her to elaborate. "Not just because...because I wondered why I couldn't make anyone stick around. That was part of it, I guess. But it was mostly because I should have done it first. I knew it wasn't right and I held out anyway. I was hiding, and I pulled everyone down with me."

The mechanic's expression softened. Happy wasn't one for pity, but every once in awhile, she managed something akin to empathy. "Why couldn't you just say that?"

"I don't know." She ran both hands through her hair, tugging it between her fingers. "No, I do know. Walter loved me. I knew that and I knew how he felt watching us together. He thinks I was happy with Tim up until the end. If I wasn't, that means I let him suffer for no reason. I hurt him for no reason." Paige drew in a sharp breath. "I can't tell him that, and I can't lie to him. Either way, I'm afraid I'll lose his trust all over again."

* * *

"Hi, Walter."

The genius smiled. Paige had contacted her son a few hours earlier, but Walter was pleased to hear Ralph's voice himself. Mauritania was seven hours ahead of Los Angeles, which meant that Ralph had woken up shortly before and would be getting ready for school. They had some time. The boy always rose early to read or tinker with a project, just like Walter did if Paige hadn't kept him up late. "Hey. Just checking in. How's it going with Drew?"

"Fine." When Walter insisted he was  _fine_ , it was usually a cause for alarm. But Ralph's tone was entirely apathetic. "He was supposed to have lunch with his old coach, but mom got mad at him, so we're going to the museum later instead."

"Oh." Paige hadn't mentioned any problems with Drew, although Walter remembered the strange flicker in her expression when he'd asked. He wasn't imagining that after all. He wondered why she didn't tell him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just heard him on the phone when he canceled his plans. I told him we didn't have to go anywhere, but he insisted that we should spend time together. At least he let me pick the location."

Walter exhaled, tamping down on his reflexive annoyance at Drew's notorious unreliability. "That's good. Y-Your dad should…"  _Go straight to hell._ "Get to see the stuff you're interested in."

"I guess." There was a lingering silence, and Walter had checked his phone to make sure the call was still connected when Ralph spoke again. "It's not...logical. We don't have anything in common. But I still like having him here." Another pause. "Never mind. That sounds stupid."

"No, it doesn't," Walter said quickly. It wasn't much different than his relationship with his own father. The two of them were mysteries to each other, and whatever progress they made was incremental and tenuous at best. But despite all that, he could never quite bring himself to stop trying. "I get it. Trust me, I do."

"Okay." Ralph cleared his throat. "But just, for the record...having him here doesn't make you less my dad. I'm glad you're the one who's around all the time."

It wasn't the first time Ralph had ever referred to him as  _dad,_ but he'd admittedly been insecure about that position since the moment Drew arrived at the garage. Perhaps it was an unfounded fear. Working toward a relationship—or at least peace—with Sean didn't change what he felt for Cabe. Drew's presence didn't have to change the connection that Walter and Ralph shared, either. "Yeah. Me too."


	7. Close

They were heading out in the morning. Nothing at the Mauritania site struck the team as suspicious, so they offered their recommendations to wrap up a long and draining day. The supplies had passed as expected through customs and gone through the sorting process, and Scorpion made plans to follow the shipment through another nine-hour flight until it finally arrived in Malawi, where they could make their final assessment.

Paige was a little frustrated that they kept coming up empty. The faster they found the root of the problem, the faster she could get home to her son. But so far, the employees had been cooperative, the processes had all been more or less functional, and the transports had been punctual and reliable. Nothing to explain why the aid was disappearing or getting destroyed. Maybe they were missing something. Everyone was worn out from the constant travel, and lord knew she'd been distracted lately.

At least she would be able to sleep in a real bed tonight. They were put up in a hotel around the corner, a bare-bones setup with gray walls and an old dresser. It wasn't the best or worst place she'd ever stayed, but it wasn't a plane, so it was perfect. Happy and Toby were in the adjoining room to the left, Sylvester and Cabe to the right. Paige was grateful when everyone assumed she and Walter would share a room, and the genius didn't protest. They hadn't had any time alone. And she had so much to tell him.

She shook her hair out of its clip, fluffing it with her hand a few times before she left the bathroom in a loose shirt and sleep shorts. Walter had his legs stretched out in front of him and he was scribbling on a notepad. He didn't do that often. He vastly preferred the functionality of a computer, but when he encountered a particularly stubborn problem, he changed tactics to find a fresh perspective. And this case was perplexing him, if only because the team rarely went this long without encountering some kind of chaos.

There were two twin-size beds in the room—the only layout available—and Walter looked surprised when she ignored the open bed and climbed onto his instead, bending her knees and tucking her feet underneath her. He shuffled to the side to give her room and set the notebook down, switching his attention to her without pause. She'd settled across from him so it would be easier to see his expression, his reactions. They often betrayed much more than his words did.

She blew out the breath she was holding. "We really need to talk."

Walter nodded, his gaze dropping to his clasped hands in his lap. "You want to break up," he said in a flat voice.

Paige's heart sank. He stated it so simply, just another fact, and she realized he'd probably been preparing himself for it all day. Maybe even since the day she first asked for space. "Walter, no." She scooted closer, separating his hands and wrapping hers around them. He looked up at her. "God, no. That wasn't what I meant."

He shrugged, a resigned expression on his face. But he didn't pull away from her. "You don't want to talk about Tim. You didn't tell me you were having issues with Drew. You're frequently annoyed by my behavior. You hid a job offer from me, and you shut down every attempt I've made to discuss moving in together." Walter bit the inside of his lip and sighed. "If you don't want to involve me in these aspects of your life, and you don't want to move forward, then I don't know what else you  _could_ want than to end this."

Fiery tears pricked her eyes. She didn't know how he found out about her disagreement with Drew, but she guessed it didn't really matter. It was true. She had done all those things, and he was so patient, waiting for her to come around. But all she'd managed on this trip was deepening the divide.

Paige blinked to clear her eyes and squeezed his hands. "I know I've been screwing up lately. But I don't want to break up. I want…" She swallowed. It was slightly painful when her mouth and throat were so dry. "I want to explain some things, okay? And afterward, you can yell at me if you want."

"I'm not going to—." Walter stopped when he realized that she didn't  _actually_ expect him to raise his voice, though he certainly had a right to. "Okay."

"Okay." She'd thought about this, scrambled for the most accurate words because Walter didn't often understand subtext or ambiguity. Softening the edges wasn't as important as offering him the most direct facts. "I'm not...as good at this as I thought I would be. Being in a relationship. I always thought you would be the one who struggled with opening up. But it's me." She shifted, uncomfortable in her position, and crossed her legs in front of her instead. Her hands dropped from Walter's and she used them to tug at the hem of her shirt. "All my life...Veronica was in and out. My dad was in space, most of the time. Drew wasn't a talker. We never had real conversations, we either kept it light or we fought. There was no in between."

Walter was quiet, listening intently. She knew she should have confided in him earlier. But it hadn't always been as clear to her as it was now.

"I didn't have a lot of friends, after Ralph was born. All I did was work, anyway. And you can't unload on your child. Anything that was bothering me, I hid it from him. I wanted to protect him." The tears welled up again. They always did at memories of her son, right up until the day they met Scorpion. "Tim and I never really moved past that stage of getting to know each other. He knew the surface stuff. The easy stuff. Walter, I don't withhold things from you because I'm pushing you out of my life. I've just never had anyone ask. And now that I do...I don't know how to adjust. I don't know how to bring you into my life and make you a part of all the things that I've been doing alone for so long."

It wasn't everything. But it was more than she'd been giving him recently. She trusted Walter, loved him so much that it was impossible to imagine not being with him. But there was a level of intimacy he sought that she'd resisted with Tim and that Drew had never required. And it was just as new and strange and scary for her, in a way, as it was for him.

Walter's silence stretched indefinitely, or at least it felt that way while she waited for a response. She could handle anger, if it turned out he did want to yell. A fight would still be more productive than what they'd been doing. As long as he didn't shut her out. Maybe that was hypocritical, since she'd just admitted to shutting him out, but somehow she knew that would hurt the most. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I d-didn't know you felt that way."

Paige shook her head. "It's not an excuse. I just want you to know that it's not all on you." She reached one hand up to his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "We've both done things the other person isn't happy with. I won't pretend that's easy to figure out, but please don't think I'm trying to leave. I love you."

He relaxed into her touch. "I love you too."

She wanted to tell him more, everything she'd told Happy earlier, but she wasn't ready. And it was too much for him to process in one night, anyway.

Paige raised up onto her knees again, swinging her leg over to straddle Walter. She kissed him softly at first, her hands running up through his hair, until he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Between work and family obligations, it wasn't unusual for them to go a week or two without sex. That was one of the more difficult parts of their relationship. But she'd been holding back even more lately. Physical and emotional intimacy went hand-in-hand, and it was impossible for her to indulge in one without the other.

But sixteen days of pent-up energy was bubbling to the surface, and even though Paige knew their problems would still be there in the morning, she needed him tonight. She sighed against Walter's lips as his hand traveled under her shirt, his fingertips trailing slowly over her back, and she pressed harder against him, reaching for the bottom of his shirt and breaking apart just long enough to pull it over his head. "Paige, the team is right there."

The bed was relatively quiet and the air conditioning was loud. That would have to be enough. She pushed Walter back against the pillows, leaning down to meet him. "I don't care."


	8. Approval

She'd been smiling.

Ralph could detect it in her voice—Toby taught him that—and it made him smile too. He didn't enjoy seeing his mom stressed and upset. She had gone through more than enough of that in the first decade of his life. She thought he didn't know, that he had been too lost in his own head to notice her struggling all those years. That wasn't entirely accurate. He didn't react to her distress because he was powerless to stop it. His inability to provide material or emotional support made any corresponding distress on his part just one more burden for Paige to handle.

Things got better with the introduction of Scorpion into their lives. Even better when his mom and Walter finally initiated a romantic relationship. The three of them, together...they were happy. But she was still struggling, albeit in a different way. Ralph wondered if she was afraid to be happy.

He would understand. Somewhat. Now that everything was in place, now that what he always wanted was a reality, or close, he felt like a strong breeze would be enough to topple it. He had no control over whether the two people he loved most chose to stay together. And when Walter commenced spending each night at the garage, when they'd gotten into that big fight over a case interfering with his thesis presentation, when his dad and Tim showed up unexpectedly and the tension was palpable even to him, Ralph didn't know what else to do but worry.

But Paige had been smiling in their last conversation. She sounded relaxed. His fears were further assuaged by Walter's presence on the call. It was the first time they'd contacted him together since they left Los Angeles. Perhaps everything would be alright after all.

"Hey," Drew interrupted Ralph's thoughts as he leaned around the doorframe. "Time for bed. It's already pretty late."

He'd gotten permission to stay up until midnight so Paige could call him first thing in the morning from her hotel in Mauritania. The time difference always required a bit of forethought when Scorpion traveled, but so far, she'd never failed to call him at least once a day.

"Okay." Ralph plugged in his tablet at his charging station and flopped backward onto his bed, bending his knees to his chest so he could pull the comforter up. When Drew didn't move from his position by the door, the young genius raised his eyebrow. "I'm in bed."

"Right, uh…" Drew swallowed, taking a step into the room and pushing his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. "It just occured to me that...I never asked if your mom usually...you know."

"Tucks me in?" Ralph ventured at Drew's vague motion toward the bed. He nodded. "Only when I'm sick."

"Oh. Okay. I know it's hard to have her gone and I didn't want to disrupt whatever routine you guys have and…" Drew was rambling. Ralph found that odd. It was rare that his father seemed anything less than self-assured, sometimes annoyingly so. "I'm not really up-to-date on, uh, dad protocol here."

Ralph's forehead creased. He was used to Drew's attempts to connect, awkward and unsuccessful as they typically were. But they were, overwhelmingly, efforts at friendship rather than a functional father and son relationship. The time for that seemed long past. So why was he suggesting something that Ralph hadn't yearned for since he was six?

He shrugged. "It's okay. I'll tell you if I need anything."

"Yeah. Okay." Drew lingered a second longer in his spot before apparently coming to a decision and taking a seat on the edge of Ralph's bed. He ran his palms nervously over his legs. "So, um, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. About that thing with my coach. I know you overheard and I don't want you to think I was trying to...bail on you."

Ralph didn't know how to respond. It was logical for Drew to take a meeting with a friend in California when he was already in Los Angeles. A second trip from Portland would have made little sense. And it was only for one day. They would still have plenty of time together.

And yet...it bothered him. The part of him that thought he had been disappointed by Drew too many times to care anymore was wrong. It seemed juvenile to demand his father's exclusive attention, but maybe it wasn't just the attention he craved. Maybe he'd wanted to come first for once. Win out over the career that Drew left his family for.

Maybe that was merely Toby's shrink voice in his head. "I know."

"Good. Because…" Drew shifted slightly closer, patting Ralph's knee over the covers. "I really am having a good time with you. I always do, even if I don't always get things the way you do. Kinda wish I did."

The other geniuses taught him that it was a gift to be different. That he wasn't alone, he had friends, people who understood him even if his own family didn't. But consciously or not, they'd all sought a measure of approval from their biological parents. He could see it in their interactions. And that made him feel a little better about how much he appreciated Drew's words, even if he didn't absolutely need them.

Ralph shuffled to sit up against his headboard and crossed his legs in front of him. "I'm pretty different. No one understands me all the time. Definitely not mom. But she tries, and that's usually enough."

"What about Walter?" Ralph looked up, surprised to hear his mentor's name. "Doesn't he understand you? You seem pretty inseparable."

He couldn't tell if Drew was jealous. Paige had advised him that it was okay to talk about Walter, but to think about how what he said might affect Drew. He sometimes questioned if his father deserved that level of consideration. But he certainly had no interest in creating additional tension this week. "Walter comes the closest."

Drew nodded again. They lapsed into silence, but Ralph could tell Drew had more to say. At this rate, he would never get to sleep. "He takes care of you guys, right? I'm sure it's been a big change, him and your mom getting together."

He'd wanted the three of them to be a family for years. Since the day he realized that Walter loved him and his mom equally. It was a big change, but one he had anticipated so eagerly that it wasn't hard to adjust. Walter already played a significant role in their lives. This just solidified it. "Yeah. It's been...really good."

"Good. It's important to me that you and your mom are happy. I hope you know that." He offered Ralph a small smile. Toby could provide a more thorough analysis, but Ralph read concern, not jealousy. If anything, there was sadness in Drew's voice that he was unable to contextualize. "And if you ever need to talk about anything that's happening around here, you can call me. I know I may not be the easiest person for you to talk to, but I'll try to be...objective."

People always thought they were more objective than they were. Happy told him that once. True objectivity was impossible for anyone with personal history, experiences, and biases that colored their perception. Ralph decided that was beside the point. "Thanks."

"Aquarium after school tomorrow?" The young genius nodded. "Cool. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night." As Drew switched off the lights and headed for the living room, it occurred to Ralph that his dad had, for all intents and purposes, tucked him in for the night.

It wasn't the worst thing in the world.


	9. Amends

"What is it?"

Walter closed his laptop. He'd had that look, the one he got when he was confused or frustrated. Paige brought his hand up to the armrest between them and entwined it with hers. "Just...tired." He offered her a weary smile to back up the words. "We don't normally take cases this long. I miss Ralph and I miss the garage."

"Yeah, I know. Me too." Paige shuffled to the side, resting against Walter's shoulder. Most of Scorpion's cases involved air travel, but they'd been in so many uncomfortable plane seats lately that she planned to put her foot down on foreign missions for a while. "Hopefully we'll find some answers in Malawi and then we can go home."

The genius sighed. "It's the last stop. If the aid isn't being stolen there, then Homeland sent us on a wild goose chase."

"As long as they pay us."

Walter huffed out a laugh, falling quiet for a long second before he squeezed her hand. "I'm, uh...I'm really glad, you know. That we're okay."

Paige bit her lip, a wave of emotion welling up in her. Spending the night with him in Mauritania had lifted a massive weight off her shoulders. They could make this work. She'd always known that a relationship between two people with so much emotional baggage would be difficult, but she was determined to stop punishing Walter for her issues. It was past time to let go of her guilt and focus on being the best partner she could for him.

"I'm in love with you, Walter. That hasn't changed since the first time I said it." She tilted her head to look at him, returning his warm smile. "Even when I'm not great at showing it, please don't forget that."

* * *

"I don't get it." Happy crossed her arms over her chest, a scowl on her face. "That Jackson guy swears nothing has gone missing from the warehouse in six months. Either he's an idiot or things are getting jacked in transport."

Toby shrugged, flipping through papers in a manila folder. "None of the drivers have reported suspicious activity. I'll have to interview them in person, but nothing stands out in their personnel files. So far, we've got about as much squat as we did at the other two checkpoints."

"This case," Paige muttered under her breath. She glanced to her right, where Cabe and Walter were standing. "Tell me something isn't off here. We've interviewed dozens of people and no one except Homeland seems to think anything is wrong. Did they get false information?"

"It's possible," the agent said. "But Happy's right, it could be during transport. Next shipment goes out in three hours. Until then, we should just offer any help we can."

Walter nodded. "Happy, check the trucks for necessary repairs. While you're at it, sweep for trackers." He pointed to Toby. "The rest of the crew gets back from lunch in a few minutes. Find out what they know. Sylvester and I will check the delivery logs for discrepancies. We'll just have to sit tight a little longer."

"Excuse me," Jackson interrupted, walking toward them. Paige pushed to the front of the group to meet him. He was a gangly kid, part of some volunteer training program for fresh college graduates, and he was visibly intimidated by the cranky, travel-worn geniuses. "I pulled up the security feed you asked for, but it only goes back seventy-two hours. Anything past that is backed up to our servers in the storage building. I can't access it from here, but my supervisor says you're welcome to head over there and watch it. You'll have access with the visitor badges."

"I'll do it," Tim volunteered. "We passed it on our way in, right? Blue building?"

"Yeah. I don't know if you'll find what you're looking for, but the footage is pretty well labeled if that helps."

"I'll come with you," Cabe offered.

Tim shook his head. "Thanks, but I wouldn't mind some time alone." Paige didn't blame him. Even for a tight-knit family like them, this had been an awful lot of  _togetherness_. "We've got three hours to kill, right? I'll let you know if anything turns up."

"Alright." Walter's face didn't betray any particular emotion, but Paige had a hunch the genius was happy to send Tim on his way. Even though he'd stayed true to his word and kept his head down, the genius never seemed fully able to relax around him. "Cabe will help us with the manifests, and Paige can interview the employees with Toby. Everyone keep your comms in."

The team dispersed, but Paige grabbed Walter's hand to hold him back. "Hey," she said quietly, leaning in close. He looked at her curiously. "I'm gonna go with Tim."

Walter frowned. "Why? He clearly wanted to be alone."

"I know, I just…" Paige released a deep breath. "I think he and I need to talk. Just for a few minutes, and then I'll be right back, okay?"

She wasn't seeking permission, but she didn't want to give Walter undue reason to worry, either. Even though they were on steadier ground now, the past few weeks had been rough on both of them, and she didn't know if his normally unwavering trust in her had been shaken.

He thought for a moment and then sighed, resignation clear in his features. "I'll walk you out there."

"It's okay. I can catch up. And he has a gun. I'll be fine." Paige gave Walter a reassuring smile, tightening her hand around his before she let go. "Right back," she promised again as she headed for the door.

Tim was farther out than she'd expected, and Paige almost had to run to catch up with him. The path between the warehouse and the storage building was overgrown, except for tire tracks made by the trucks. It didn't seem like people walked that way very often. "Hey," she said as her hand found Tim's shoulder. He spun around, looking startled. "Sorry. Can we talk?"

He stopped abruptly, glancing around even though they were well out of earshot of anyone in the warehouse. "I said I wanted to be alone."

Paige took a step back, surprised by his cold tone.  _What were you expecting? You've been nothing but rude since he showed up._ "I wanted to apologize." He raised his eyebrow. "I was suspicious when you came back. I admit that. Things between us ended badly, and I thought...look, it doesn't matter. You swore there would be no trouble and there wasn't. Thank you."

"Are you done?" he asked bluntly. "Because I have a job to do."

She tried and failed to tamp down her indignation. He had a right to be annoyed with her, sure, but there was no reason things needed to be so awkward between them. Neither of their hearts had been broken. "God, Tim, I'm trying to say I'm sorry." He stared over her shoulder, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. She threw her hands up. "Fine. I was hoping we could put the past behind us and talk like friends, but clearly that was stupid. I'll give you your space to—."

"Paige, walk away," Tim interrupted in a low voice. But he didn't sound angry. It sounded like a warning.

"What?" She realized a second too late that Tim hadn't just been avoiding looking at her—he was looking  _at_ something. Specifically, four men climbing out of an SUV twenty feet away, carrying assault rifles. Paige froze, numbly complying as Tim ushered her behind him with his arm. They were half a mile away from the warehouse—too far for the team to hear or see them. If she tried to leave now, maybe they would let her go. And maybe they wouldn't.

Paige shut her eyes and calmed her breathing, attempting to think logically. Tim wasn't trying to run. It would be safer to stick with him. He was armed and well-trained. Despite their issues, he wouldn't leave her to fend for herself. Probably.

"You. Over here," the front man ordered in a thick accent, motioning to the spot with his gun. Tim nodded to let her know it was alright and Paige tentatively stepped beside him. These  _had_ to be the men they'd been looking for, the ones responsible for the missing aid. This was too remote of an area to be an accidental encounter. "Hands behind your head."

Paige subtly grazed her ear as she followed the instruction.  _Shit._ She'd taken her comm out to talk to Tim, and there was no way to grab it from her pocket without potentially causing alarm.

One of the men lowered his gun, advancing forward. "Mr. Armstrong?"

Paige stiffened. There was no way she'd heard that correctly. There was no way that...

"Yes." Tim tilted his chin downward, keeping his hands firmly in place. "My pocket."

The same man—Paige noticed a faded falcon tattoo on his wrist—reached in to retrieve Tim's ID, flipping it open and examining it closely. "It's him."

Her pulse raced wildly as the men searched them, confiscating their comms and phones, along with Tim's gun. They patted her down efficiently, speaking among themselves in a foreign language that Paige guessed was Chichewa to relay that she was unarmed. "You come with us now," the first man said, motioning for Tim and Paige to follow him.

They had no protection and no methods of communicating with the team. God, she wished Walter was there. She didn't fear anything when he was there. He never let harm come to her.

But they were on their own. "What the hell is going on?" she asked as quietly and venomously as she could manage, careful not to draw the attention of their abductors.

"You have good instincts, Paige. You should have trusted them."

"He knew you. He knew your name." No answer. "Tim,  _how did he know your name_?"

The former trainee blew out a harsh breath. "The aid, Scorpion's case...it's all a cover," he admitted, finally meeting her eyes. "This was always the real mission."


	10. Search Party

_"The aid, Scorpion's case...it's all a cover," he admitted, finally meeting her eyes. "This was always the real mission."_

She was an idiot. Tim wasn't the type to shrink back and stay quiet. Paige knew something was off the second her ex-boyfriend and even more ex-colleague arrived at the garage, but she was so wrapped up in her crumbling relationship with Walter that she never considered his ulterior motives were professional rather than personal. Then again, they usually were.

"Damn it, Tim." Although the armed mercenary behind Paige was tipping her dominant emotion toward fear, anger was edging into a very close second. "Again?"

"You weren't supposed to be here," he snapped, frustration creeping into his low voice. "I went alone for a reason. You chasing me out into the middle of nowhere wasn't part of the plan."

"Oh, so there is a plan?" she hissed. "We're not just getting abducted in a foreign country by people who want to shoot us?"

"No. And they're not going to shoot us unless we give them a reason to, so just follow my lead." Tim stumbled slightly when the man with the falcon tattoo grabbed his shoulder, pushing him downward. He offered the mercenary a dirty look but complied, ducking his head as he slid into the backseat of the SUV and scooted over to the far side. Paige stiffened as the man reached for her, her fight or flight response suddenly favoring flight. She was still within a reasonable distance from the warehouse, from the team, from Walter. Getting in the car meant giving that up. Putting her life firmly in Tim's hands and trusting the man who'd just proven himself untrustworthy. He shook his head, clearly reading the conflict on her face. "Don't."

She released a shallow breath, trying not to cringe at the contact when the taller man pushed her into the seat. Paige righted herself, jumping as the door slammed shut behind her.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said sharply, glancing around to take stock of her surroundings. After three years in Scorpion and multiple brushes with death, it was somewhat of a habit, even in non-threatening situations. The windows were covered, which explained why their captors hadn't bothered to put bags over their heads. A thick pane of plexiglass separated the third row from the front two, and there were no controls on the inside of the doors. This wasn't a place people found themselves by choice. "I have about a hundred questions, and you better answer all of them. What's the mission?"

Tim sighed. As furious as she was to be caught up in this, he seemed equally displeased at the change of plans. "Chatha Yamikani. Head of the rebel army in Malawi. I met him a few years back, so Homeland thought I could make the transition smoother when his contact retired."

"You don't work for Homeland anymore."

"I can still operate as a contractor. Same as you."

"Why does he want? Why does the meeting have to be in person?"

"It's not what he wants, it's what  _we_ want. Yamikani has the most reliable intelligence in the region. His network is unparalleled. He tells Homeland what it wants to know, for a price. Money, weapons, favors." Tim shrugged. "But he's paranoid. Won't communicate any way that can be hacked or tapped, because what he has is less valuable if someone else can get it. So everything is exchanged in person on thumb drives."

Paige studied him carefully as she processed the information. Tim was tense, but not scared. He knew this man and he wasn't scared. But that didn't mean they were in the clear. What if Yamikani was suspicious of her presence? What if something went wrong? Four armed guards and a vehicle customized for kidnappings weren't the hallmarks of a friendly person. "You didn't need to keep us in the dark. We've handled cases like this before."

"It's not a seven-person job, Paige. One contact, minimal noise. Homeland doesn't need the government here finding out that we're in bed with its opponents. Scorpion was given a cover to explain our presence and make everything look legitimate." His expression softened slightly. "It's not like it was a waste. What you did was worthwhile."

"Spare me." She didn't need his reassurances. She was a lot more concerned about making it through the day in one piece. "Does Cabe know?"

Tim shook his head. "No. I was going to make an excuse and be out and back before anyone realized. Even if the team noticed, it's not like Walter would send a search party out for me."

She glared at him. He just couldn't resist a dig at the genius, could he? "If I can't get a message to him, he's sure as hell going to send one out for me."

"I know. I'm working on that." Tim tapped his fingers against the door, glancing at her sideways as she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's under control, Paige. If I thought you would be in danger, I would have found a way to call it off."

"Yeah," she snorted, looking out her window without a view. "I bet you didn't think I'd get shot over a bowl last time, either."

* * *

"Where's Paige?"

Walter glanced up from the screen, shooting Toby a confused look. "What?"

"Paige. Lady Dineen. The woman who melted that lump of coal in your chest. Last driver speaks better Spanish than English, I thought Paige could take a crack at her."

"Uh…" The genius checked his watch. He hadn't expected to find anything within the surveillance footage from the last three days, but they had a few hours to kill, so he'd let his eyes glaze over staring at the repetitive feed and lost track of time. "I don't know. I saw her thirty minutes ago." He grunted, the memory of their last conversation returning and filling him with a sense of disdain. "She went to talk to the interloper."

"Thirty minutes, huh? Not worried about a little rumble in the jungle, for old time's sake?"

Walter knew Toby was just baiting him and fought an urge to punch the shrink squarely in his mouth. "I'm sure she went to help with the rest of the footage. I'll call her." He fished his cell out of his pocket, pressing her speed dial number and immediately reaching her voice mail. "That's weird. She charged her phone last night, it shouldn't be dead already."

"No answer on comms, either. Call him."

The genius rolled his eyes. He'd happily deleted Tim's contact information after his departure from the team, but the downside of an eidetic memory was the inability to forget even the things he wished he could. Walter entered the number and was greeted by Tim's smarmy recorded voice.

The dread pooling in his stomach was illogical. He and Paige were on good terms now. She'd have no reason to seek solace in his former romantic rival.

Would she?

"Come on, I'll go down there with you," Toby offered, his teasing tempered by Walter's obvious anxiety.

Walter nodded, feeling slightly numb as they left the warehouse and headed toward the storage building. Her lack of contact didn't mean anything. She wouldn't cheat, not after what she'd experienced with Drew. Paige was a talkative person and likely making an effort to catch up with Tim. But that didn't diminish the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

"Walt?" He turned around, realizing belatedly that Toby had stopped several feet back and was staring at the ground. "If Paige and Tim were trying to heat it up out here, they had some company."

Walter ignored the shrink's tasteless joke and looked at where he was pointing. Four pairs of footprints, none of which continued past that spot on the dirt trail. Walter swallowed. His nagging feeling was no longer theoretical. "Toby, get the team. Now."


	11. Lost and Found

"It has to be related to the aid. They must have seen something they weren't supposed to," Toby said for the hundredth time. "But we still don't know who's responsible, so how do we know what they're planning to do with Paige?"

"And Tim," Sylvester chimed in unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I'm less concerned about G.I. Jerk."

"Will both of you shut up? I can't think." Walter dragged his hands through his hair. The abductors had up to a thirty minute head start on them. Even if they'd driven carefully to avoid attracting attention, that was a significant lead. "Stop here."

He jumped out of the passenger's side, snapped a picture with his tablet, and climbed back in, waiting for his software to complete its task.

"Turn left." Happy obliged, angling the wheel sharply. The footsteps near the warehouse led them directly to the tire tracks made by whatever vehicle was used to move Paige and Tim, but traffic was heavy in the area and Walter found it impossible to distinguish differences between the tracks. Fortunately, computers saw what he couldn't.

"We're almost out of the business district. Should be easier from here," the mechanic assured him quietly. He nodded to let her know that he heard, but didn't respond.

Paige had been in worse situations. Loathe as he was to admit it, Tim was adequate on missions and had a proven record of protecting the liaison. Not that Paige couldn't fend for herself. She consistently amazed him in that regard.

But if she'd known how terrified he was each time she fell into danger, ever since that first case, she would never have doubted that he loved her.

* * *

_Don't come, Walter. It's okay. Don't try to find me._

_Please find me. I'm freaking out._

Paige exhaled shallowly. She'd been waffling for what felt like hours, although in reality their ride had only taken about thirty minutes. It was hard to tell exactly without her phone or watch.

Walter would scorch the earth as soon as he realized she'd been taken. He didn't know that this  _was_ the purpose of their trip or that the people she was about to meet were government assets. And if he came barreling through on some misguided rescue mission, Paige had no clue what would happen next.

But she hated when he wasn't there. Secretly, she'd always dreaded being separated from him on missions. They were at their best together. And no one ever had her back like he did.

The man with the falcon tattoo pulled open her door, motioning with his gun for her to exit. "Keep your hands where we can see them," he warned in English that was heavily accented but impressive. It was the country's official language, though the men had also been conversing in another dialect that was most likely Chichewa. She'd done some research on Malawi during their long plane rides, but right now it didn't feel like enough.

"Let her stay in the car," Tim insisted, breaking his prolonged silence. "She's not needed."

Paige fought the urge to roll her eyes.  _He's covering you. Just keep your mouth shut._ "No," the man said forcefully, shaking his head. "Mr. Yamikani is expecting two. You both come or we have a problem. Do we have a problem?"

"No. I'm coming," she answered quickly, placing her hands out to calm both men and moving to get out of the SUV. The youngest man—he couldn't be older than twenty—was at her back immediately, training his rifle on her as Tim's feet dropped onto the dirt path beside her. She was getting really sick of people pointing guns at her.

"Remember our plan," Tim murmured, locking his fingers behind his head in a movement that was becoming uncomfortably familiar for them. "It's important that you—."

"I've got it," she snapped irritably. "Don't talk unless I'm asked to. Keep my head down until it's over."

He set his jaw and stared straight ahead. That look was familiar to her, too. Every time they disagreed about something. They hadn't fought, when they were together, just tried to ignore the tension driving a wedge between them. It never felt like their relationship would survive a fight.

That was true, as it turned out. In hindsight, Paige could see that if she had cared more, if she'd been desperate for things to work, she would have fought. But she didn't want to, didn't want to rock the boat and realize she was holding on to nothing. She wanted it to be easy.

He probably deserved better than that.

"Stop." Paige's self-reflection was cut short as the younger man grabbed her arm, holding her in place. Tim was a couple steps ahead of her, standing rigidly as the tattooed man guarded him. They were in a camp—a temporary base, she guessed, easy to erect and take down quickly. Four tents, a fire pit with pots and other cooking supplies, a radio and some outdated computer equipment strewn on a table. Although she hadn't been able to see where they were going, the lack of city noise told her they were in a remote area. Paige had to admit it wasn't what she expected after being picked up in a high-end customized SUV.

The other two mercenaries disappeared into the largest tent, emerging seconds later with an elderly man. "Mr. Armstrong," the man said, bowing his head respectfully.

"Mr. Yamikani." Tim mirrored the gesture. "Thank you for agreeing to meet."

From his appearance, Paige never would have pegged him as a powerful information broker. He was in his seventies, possibly older, with close-cropped gray hair. He was wearing a loose white shirt and dark pants, his face softened by the lines around his eyes.

But his tense expression and the scars on his cheek told another story she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Chatha turned his attention to her, tilting his head in curiosity. "You are not a soldier."

Paige stiffened, glancing at Tim. He offered her a barely perceptible nod. "Um, n-no." She cleared her throat. "I work with the U.S. government. I'm...a former colleague of Mr. Armstrong's."

"Ah. I see." He took a step toward the former SEAL. "That was not our original agreement."

Tim straightened up, using his full height to his advantage. He seemed unfazed, and Paige hoped she was projecting the same sense of calm, even if fear was clawing in her stomach. "Change of plans. But I can assure you that she will be discreet. We are prepared to make the trade according to your terms."

Chatha hummed in acknowledgement, clasping his hands in front of him. "I'm afraid I have also changed my plans," he said slowly. Paige swallowed. There was no way those words could lead to a positive outcome for them. "I will give you what you came for. But the price has doubled."

Tim raised his eyebrows. She'd never seen him look startled, but this was the closest. "We agreed on three hundred thousand. That's all I'm authorized to give you. The transfer will go through as soon as I confirm that I've received the information."

"It is increasingly dangerous for us to meet," the older man noted, extending his hand toward the camp. "My government has been cracking down. Many of my men are in prison. Any accounts linked to me or my activities have been frozen. My home is ashes now. This is why I must keep moving." He dropped his arm back to his side. "Gathering the intelligence that you find so valuable comes at a cost. There are many sharks in the water. Your government can pay what I ask, or our arrangement can end. It is your choice."

Whatever intel Chatha had was time sensitive. Tim insisted that he'd never been briefed on the specifics, but given the speed at which the meeting was arranged, the U.S. wasn't willing to wait for it. And Yamikani could use that to negotiate.

"I'll need my phone," Tim said evenly, nodding to the mercenary who had patted him down earlier. "Homeland may be willing to meet your terms."

"I think that would be wise." He turned toward the mercenary at his left. "Go get it."

The man nodded, heading in the direction of the SUV. Paige realized her phone must also be there and wondered if a genius could figure out how to get a message to Walter in this situation.

_It's been less than an hour. He might not even know we're gone yet._

The guard was sixty feet away when he yelled something that Paige couldn't understand, changing course and rushing back toward the camp. A flurry of activity broke out as the youngest man yanked Paige's arm, causing her to cry out in pain and surprise, and the tattooed mercenary kicked the back of Tim's leg, bringing him to his knees. "Who?" Chatha demanded. "Who did you bring here?"

Paige and Tim went pale as they realized what was happening at the same time. They could just hear the engine of a distinctly government-issue vehicle that the guard must have spotted from a distance. "It's our team," Tim explained in a rush. "Just let me go talk to them. No one else knows your location. Give me a chance to—."

"You bring this woman to my camp unannounced, and now you bring a whole team?" Chatha pulled a knife from his waistband, lunging toward Tim, but the guard put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"There is no time. We must go." The guard pushed him in the direction of their transport while the youngest man released Paige to run into the tent. He was carrying a bag when he came out, likely a cache of important items that Yamikani kept close to him. If the intel wasn't on Chatha, it was most certainly in there.

Tim scrambled to his feet, attempting to follow them, but the tattooed man held up a rifle and he stumbled backward. "Please. We need that drive."

"Then you should not have double-crossed us," Chatha said, taking the bag from the young man and gesturing to Tim and Paige. "Shoot them."


	12. Shut Up and Drive

_"Then you should not have double-crossed us," Chatha said, taking the bag from the young man and gesturing to Tim and Paige. "Shoot them."_

"Not good!" Happy yelled, pushing hard on the gas. The SUV lurched forward and Walter's stomach dropped as Tim and Paige's predicament came into view.

"Cabe!"

"I'm on it!" The agent leaned out the back window, firing two shots into the air. At this distance, his chances for a clean hit were roughly thirty-two percent, and there was no way to take down five men at once without potentially catching Tim and Paige in the crossfire. Their best hope was distraction.

The mercenaries ducked, and then the four younger men were pushing an older man into the back of a high-end SUV and speeding off. Happy came to a screeching halt in the middle of an open field and Toby threw open the back door, jumping over the seat into the third row to make room for Tim and Paige. The trainee pushed her in and slammed the door shut behind them before Happy peeled off to the opposite direction.

"Paige," Walter breathed, ignoring the armrest jamming against his abdomen as he leaned into the backseat to embrace her. She hugged him back tightly, her breathing shallow and unsteady in his ear.

"I'm okay. We're okay." She leaned back slightly, enough for Walter to scan her for signs of injury. Paige read his mind and shook her head. "I'm not hurt. Neither of us are."

"Turn around. We have to follow them." Tim took the spare gun Cabe offered and changed out the magazine. "There's no way the drive wasn't in that bag."

"Not a chance," Paige snapped. "We don't have enough support to take on his men. They're way too heavily armed."

"Yeah, and who are you expecting backup from? This government? If they find out we're funneling money to the opposition, all of us are going to disappear real fast."

Even with Walter's exceptional processing speed, their argument was borderline unintelligible. "What drive?"

Tim whipped around to face him, disregarding the question. " _You_ blew this. You couldn't be covert if your life depended on it, could you? This is exactly why I didn't include Scorpion in this operation."

"What operation?" Happy barked.

Paige threw her hands up. "Oh my god, just tell them."

"So they can ruin any chance I have of getting to Chatha?"

"You kept us in the dark! What were you expecting to happen? If you want the faintest hope of seeing that drive again, you need to tell everyone what you told me, now."

Walter had seen that look before. Paige did not like being lied to.

The pieces clicked into place, anger burning his skin and blurring his vision. "Djibouti." How did they fall for this again? "The aid mission was a cover. You planned this. Did you even think twice about putting Paige in danger while you—."

"Walter, stop," she pleaded, putting her hand on his chest. "It wasn't like that."

"She wasn't  _in_ danger until you showed up," Tim growled, tensing like a snake preparing to strike. "He thought we were setting him up. Things are going to hell if I don't get that drive and that's on your head."

Toby rolled his eyes. "Unless the guards with assault rifles were asking you for hair tips, I'd say we saved your ass."

" _We_  put her in danger?" Somewhere in the back of his mind, Walter heard Paige's efforts to defuse the tension, and he ignored them. The anger was choking him now, but he couldn't suppress it. "She wasn't surrounded by guns until  _you_ kidnapped her. From the day you joined this team, you've consistently shown disregard for the safety of—."

The former SEAL laughed humorlessly. "Well if you'd ever actually been able to trust me, we could have avoided—."

"Trust you? When have you ever given me a reason to trust you? A member of my team disappears and I thought you were…" He swallowed. That possibility had almost seemed worse than the reality. "And I was just supposed to assume you were in control, which, by the way, you absolutely were not?"

"You thought we were what?" Paige interrupted, glowering at him. Something told him she knew exactly where that sentence ended. "What did you think we were doing, Walter?"

He didn't want to have that conversation. Not now. The genius balled his hand into a fist, keeping it behind the seat to avoid pummeling Tim. Which was singularly for Paige's benefit, as he wasn't the sure the others would mind too much. "Did you know about this, Cabe?" he asked without turning in the agent's direction.

Gallo hesitated just a second too long. "Director Carson made the arrangements. For Tim to come with us. But he assured me it wouldn't affect the team, so I didn't ask for specifics. I'm sorry, kid."

"I was supposed to go alone. Paige was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Tim argued, oblivious to or unconcerned with how much Walter did not want to hear his voice. "It needed to stay quiet. Scorpion tends to leave explosions in its wake."

"It's not our default option," the genius said with a scowl. "You don't want our help. That's fine. We're flying back tonight and you can find your own way home."

"We are not leaving him in a foreign country!" Paige protested.

"No." Tim pressed his lips together. "He's right. I'll figure this out on my own. If I don't see this mission through, I can pretty much say goodbye to my working relationship with the U.S. government. I'll...I'll win Yamikani's trust back."

"How?"

"I don't know. Somehow."

"I haven't been this confused since I watched 'Blue Velvet,'" Toby muttered. "Can one of you just fill us in? Personally, I'd like this week from hell to actually accomplish something."

Tim exhaled heavily, his shoulders sinking. "Short version...Chatha Yamikani is the opposition leader in Malawi. Our government buys intelligence from him. And, uh…" He glanced at Paige. "I lied. I do know what's on that drive."

"What?" Walter prompted impatiently.

"There's been chatter about a major bombing in Philadelphia. We have an idea who, but only he knows when and where. Like I said. His intelligence is some of the best." Tim ran one hand over his face. "Director Carson sent me because Yamikani knows me. But if I can't get the intel, he'll sell it to someone else, and that person or...or government may be less interested in stopping the attack than profiting from it. So I'm not leaving until I make this deal."

He looked to Paige for confirmation. She nodded.

_This isn't our problem. We're going home and forgetting about this colossal waste of time and effort._

_This isn't our problem._

_This isn't_ —.

"Kid," Cabe said quietly.

Walter sighed. "Yeah. I know."


	13. The Deal

"Are you sure about this?"

He frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "Little late to ask that."

"Walter, I'm serious." Paige placed her hand on his arm, stopping him from reaching for the backseat door handle. "This is dangerous. We can let Homeland handle it."

"They'll take too long to get here. We'll lose him if we wait." Chatha's guards made a critical mistake by leaving Tim and Paige's phones in the SUV. Even though they were both powered down, they weren't destroyed, and Walter had only needed a few minutes back at the warehouse to narrow down their location, thirty miles outside the city. Despite the palpable tension, no one objected to joining the new mission. Even Tim had caved once Walter laid out his plan. "I want you to stay here."

"What? No," Paige protested. "I know you're not happy with me right now, but—."

"I'm not benching you," he interrupted, turning to face her. "We need a driver. Everyone else has to come with me, but you should be ready to pick us up if things go poorly." Walter took a breath. He didn't want Paige to be overly concerned, which was why he was omitting the fact that their chances of success were dependent on far too many factors outside his control. "And if things go really poorly, I want you to be able to get out safely."

Her eyes softened, but the determination in them didn't waver. "I'm not going to leave you, Walter."

"I'm ready," Sylvester announced, switching off his tablet. "And deliberately not acknowledging the odds that I am about to get shot by scary men."

Walter cleared his throat. His analysis of Paige's statement would have to wait. "Keep the doors locked. If we're not back in an hour, call the police." The genius glanced over to Tim, waiting for his nod. "Let's go."

He slid out of the vehicle, allowing himself a silent exchange with Paige before she climbed into the front seat. They were still a quarter of a mile from the site where Chatha and his men—or at least Tim and Paige's phones—had stopped. But Tim insisted that the mission called for minimal noise, and barreling up to the camp had already backfired once. Against his personal inclination, Walter knew he would have to place at least a measure of trust in the former trainee.  _For the greater good._

Sometimes the greater good sucked.

Cabe and Tim switched off their safeties as they moved to the front. Tim took in his surroundings, his forehead creasing. "They're definitely here."

"How do you know?" Happy asked.

"The first time I met Yamikani was in one of his safehouses. We weren't allowed to see the route then, but I recognize enough."

"I guess we're about to find out," Cabe grumbled.

Walter adjusted his backpack, bracing himself as they walked the last three hundred feet in thick silence. No sooner had the dilapidated concrete shack—an abandoned utility building, if he had to guess, and definitely not deserving of the descriptor  _safe_ —come into view in a clearing before two men rushed out, weapons drawn. Six sets of hands flew immediately into the air. "I want to talk to Mr. Yamikani," Tim shouted out, angling the barrel of his gun upward to lessen the appearance of a threat. "We have a proposal."

They weren't shot on sight. That was a positive start. One of the guards—the tattoo on his wrist matched Paige's description exactly—spoke into his radio, but the man was too far away for Walter to hear and interpret. Not that his Chichewa was exactly masterful. He hadn't anticipated a need for anything more than rudimentary knowledge.

After an illogically long forty-seven seconds, the two men waved them closer. "He agrees to meet with you," the older guard translated. "Inside. If you come with bad intentions, he kills you all."

Sylvester gulped audibly behind them. "We understand," Tim said, joining Cabe in handing over their weapons. They expected to be disarmed, but the agent was right when he'd first announced the case.  _If we run into trouble, you're gonna want Tim there to back you up._ Walter could admit, albeit begrudgingly, that his ability to fight could be a vital aspect of this mission.

But if Walter's plan succeeded, brains would negate the need for brawn and Tim's presence would be a moot point. He couldn't deny the satisfying nature of that possibility.

An overwhelmingly musty smell assaulted him as they stepped into the building. His arms were beginning to burn, but lowering them seemed like an unnecessary risk. The guards from outside appeared to be barely restraining themselves from using the team as target practice, and the two guards standing on either side of Yamikani had the telltale signs of handguns tucked into their waistbands.

Chatha stood from his chair, eyeing them curiously. "You are a very brave man, Mr. Armstrong. Or a very stupid one. How did you find me?"

"You stole my phone. I'd still appreciate it back, by the way." Tim took a step forward, lowering his arms slowly. "I'm here to renegotiate. This is Scorpion. They're contractors for the U.S. government. Hearing them out is in your best interest."

Yamikani looked unconvinced, but clasped his hands in front of him and nodded. "Very well."

That was Walter's cue. "We can assist you," he explained, mining every lesson Paige had ever taught him about tact to avoid a stupid and potentially lethal error. "I can unfreeze your accounts long enough for you to transfer the money elsewhere. You'll have about ten to twenty minutes before anyone notices. I, uh, used to track down missing money for banks. I know how to cover the tracks." He gestured to the mechanic behind him. "Happy can build you tech to stay off the radar. Satellite image scrambling. Monitoring for all radio and cell phone activity within a mile." Yamikani was still listening. That was good. Walter cleared his throat. "Sylvester's read every file your government has on you and the opposition movement. He can tell you everything they know and don't know."

"Oh, and I can tell you which of these guys is flipping on you to the fuzz," Toby chimed in, plunging the room into abrupt silence. No one moved for an excruciating moment, and just when Walter started to wonder if anyone understood the psychiatrist's slang, the man with the falcon tattoo shoved open the door and ran. "Spoiler, it's that guy."

Yamikani looked to the guard next to him, tilting his head in the direction of the exit. Walter wasn't sure what kind of fate they'd just sealed for the informant, but they would have to cross that bridge later. "Everything I offered, along with the originally agreed payment, in exchange for the sole copy of the drive. Do we have a deal?"

Chatha's gaze traveled between Walter and Tim, amusement in his weathered features. He sat back down. "If you can do what you say, it is yours."

* * *

"You did good today," Cabe said when they were halfway back to the SUV, slapping Walter on his back. The genius promptly switched his attention from Tim, who was on his newly-retrieved phone with the police, encouraging them to locate and secure their informant while being appropriately vague about his exact role in events. "We got the drive without shooting and that's damn impressive."

Walter pressed his lips together. They'd succeeded, but he didn't feel successful. "I don't like that we had to help Yamikani to do it."

The agent exhaled heavily. "I know. I've made a lot of deals with a lot of questionable people over the years. But…"

"Greater good," he finished.

"Yeah. Greater good. We've got a chance to save some real lives now." Cabe glanced over at Tim, his expression changing slightly, and then back to Walter. "And I'm sorry, kid," he said, lowering his voice. "I should have done a better job of looking out for you. For the team."

Walter didn't have a response to that. He was too tired to find one. He nodded.

"Come on," the agent said. "Let's go home."


	14. Come Out Swinging

"Hey. Can I sit here?"

Paige looked up. It wasn't a large plane; there were only so many places Tim  _could_ sit. But she understood his meaning. "Yeah." She ran her hands through Walter's hair, careful not to disturb him. She'd been so surprised the first time he fell asleep with his head on her lap during a case, never imagining he would want to show that type of vulnerability in front of the team. But not even Toby cared to make a crack today. The week had been too exhausting. "I can't guarantee he won't wake up and come after you, though."

"He's had plenty of chances." Tim took the seat next to her, using the netting to steady himself as the plane rocked slightly. It would have been nice to secure a more comfortable ride back to L.A., but she was so happy to be going home that the method of transportation was inconsequential. "Hell, he could've stranded me in Malawi."

"It was too dangerous for us to stay there. Any of us." If the government got wind of their activities...and that wasn't even counting Chatha having a change of heart about the drive. Walter didn't dislike Tim enough to want to see him disappear. Probably.

Tim leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs and clasping his hands together. "Yeah. Well." He paused. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this. It was probably kind of stupid to think I could pull this off without a group of geniuses figuring it out."

She shrugged. "We're a team. Everything we do, we do it together. Succeed or fail."

"I know. I remember." He gave her a half-hearted smile. "I meant what I said, before. Working with Scorpion was a good part of my life. Under different circumstances…"

"Yeah." If those different circumstances included Walter not being in love with her, then they weren't anything to be wistful about.

"I'm sorry for lying. To you, especially."

The job came first. She'd always known that about him, deep down. No use rehashing it. "Thanks."

Tim nodded to Walter, whose deep breathing indicated that he was either fast asleep or excellent at faking it. "You happy? You and Ralph?"

Paige sighed. Tim had a gift for showing up just when she and Walter were struggling. When he first joined the team, she'd felt so rejected and alone that it was easy to throw herself into him. How could she not at least try? See where things led?

But now she knew where it led. Right back to Walter. Every time. "Yeah. We are."

Tim nodded, his eyes trained on the floor. "I was...pretty much always going to lose you to him, I think."

There had been other factors. The job. The distance. But perhaps she might have fought harder if she hadn't already discovered how much she was capable of feeling.

"Maybe." Paige swallowed past the tightness in her throat. "I probably could have stood to be more honest then. With you and myself."

"Same here." It was an odd sensation, to look at someone she'd once spent all her time with and see a stranger. Maybe not a stranger, exactly, but not a friend. Not yet. He offered her another tight-lipped smile. "It was good working with you again, Paige."

At least she hadn't gotten shot. "Yeah. But, uh...maybe it's best if you steer clear of Scorpion for a while."

He laughed humorlessly. "Understood."

* * *

"Mom!"

Paige broke into a wide smile as her son came rushing toward her, throwing his arms around her. He wasn't always quite this demonstrative, but they'd been apart for six days, and she missed him so much it hurt. "Hey, sweetie. What are you doing here?"

He turned to Drew, who was emerging from the kitchen with a soda in one hand. "Dad brought me."

"He wanted to see you as soon as you got back," Drew explained, coming to a stop next to Ralph and ruffling his hair. "I didn't believe it when you said you would be here at 6:47, but you're right on time."

"The team is pretty accurate with that kind of stuff." Paige dropped her duffel by her desk, groaning to herself as the flashing number informed her that they had thirty-two unread messages. It would have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, she was desperate just to sleep in her own bed. "Ralph, baby, why don't you go help Walter unload the car?" She didn't have to tell him twice. The young genius was gone in a flash. She turned back to Drew. "Thanks for watching him. How was he?"

"Good. Every time I see him, it's like he's matured by five years."

"He's hard to keep up with." Even the geniuses fell short of matching him mentally, so she had no hope there. But there were other ways to connect. "Just give me a few minutes and we can get out of here."

She'd been freezing on the plane, but the garage was considerably warmer and without thinking too much, Paige unbuttoned her cardigan and shrugged it off her shoulders, draping it over her bag so she wouldn't forget it. "What are those?"

Paige frowned, her gaze traveling downward until she realized what Drew was staring at. She'd felt a few stings of pain earlier, of course, but it never occurred to her to check for bruises forming under her sweater. She quickly grabbed the cardigan and yanked it back on before Ralph could see the dark purple handprints marking where Chatha's men had grabbed her.

"Did…" His voice was low, and when he looked toward the garage entrance, Paige picked up his insinuation instantly.

"No! No," she said emphatically, shaking her head. "It wasn't Walter. We ran into some trouble on the case. It's fine. I'm fine."

"What kind of trouble?" Drew's expression soured. She hadn't seen him look so furious in...actually, she didn't know if she ever had. He'd always been more likely to walk away from an argument than explode. "The kind that gets people killed? How can you keep putting yourself in danger like that?"

She clenched her jaw. This wasn't the first time he'd expressed concern over the risks of Scorpion's work, but as far as she was concerned, Drew had no input in what she did with her life. "I am not having this conversation here. I'm tired and it's none of your business."

"Really? Not my business. Because I spent all week watching Ralph wait for you to come home. Do you even think about what would happen to him if you didn't come home? You're being stupid, Paige. And reckless. This is crazy."

_Stupid._ Nothing caused her more insecurity than that word. And nothing made her blood boil more than her love for Ralph being questioned. "I know what happened to him when  _you_ didn't come home. Is this seriously the road you want to go down?"

"Paige?"  _Oh, crap._ Walter was suddenly next to her, so tense he could shatter, which meant Ralph was probably also in the garage and she couldn't let this escalate.

Too late. "This has nothing to do with him," Drew snapped, pointing at the genius. "This is about our son."

"You think taking care of him for a week makes you his father?" Walter said coldly. "Paige has been taking care of Ralph for years. You have no idea what she's been through to raise him."

" _Stop._ " She did the only thing she could think to do and stepped between them, placing her hand on Walter's chest. "I am not letting this happen in front of  _my_ son. You," she addressed the genius first, "cool down. Get some sleep. We'll deal with this tomorrow. And you," she glared at Drew, "get Ralph, we're leaving. You and I need to talk."


	15. Hold On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

It always felt a little odd, having Drew in her home.

She couldn't say they'd ever really had a home together. They had a string of apartments where they weren't allowed to paint or hammer nails into the walls or own pets, because they would be moving again soon and they needed the security deposit back. And then she was with Ralph, bouncing between motel rooms and crappy sublets, always wary of getting too comfortable because that was the exact moment she would lose everything. Until she finally scraped together enough money waitressing to rent this place. If not something permanent, then at least something stable.

This was the first place she ever truly felt at home, even more so when she joined Scorpion and could stop worrying about eviction every second of every day. And Drew's presence always seemed strange here. Like an anachronism. A piece of her old life standing in the world she'd fought tooth and nail to build without him.

She shut the door behind her. "Ralph, can you—."

"I'll be in my room," the young genius sighed, offering her a knowing look. "With my headphones on."

Sometimes his ability to read social cues surprised even her. Paige kissed the top of his head. "Thanks, baby. We just need a few minutes."

Ralph paused to grab a water bottle out of the fridge before disappearing around the corner. He was spared the sight of his two father figures trying to kill each other, but the tension in the garage and on the car ride home was all but suffocating. She would have been concerned if he hadn't picked up on it.

Walter's wounded expression when she walked out was branded into her brain.  _You're leaving with him? After he…?_ But Drew's harsh words didn't make him a danger, and the single last place she wanted to have this conversation was in the garage.

Paige waited until she heard the click of her son's door and crossed her arms over her chest, keeping her volume low both for his benefit and because it terrified Drew. "You are not allowed to talk to me like that. Especially not at my place of work. And  _never_ in front of Ralph. Do you understand me?"

She could almost always read Walter's expression clearly, look into his eyes and understand the depth of whatever he was feeling. But Drew was different. He was staring at her so blankly she wondered if he'd even heard her.

"I meant it, Paige," he said finally. "You know I don't like what you do. Even more so now that you left Ralph for six days," his voice rose slightly, "and came back with bruises from doing god knows what. You think you can hide them until they heal? What happens when they're somewhere you can't cover up?"

Paige tugged subconsciously on her cardigan. Ralph had seen her injured before; he could handle this. But it always seemed a little dissonant to lecture him about avoiding danger when she was running directly into it. "I'm not a waitress anymore, okay? I'm not a cheerleader, or a sorority girl, or the woman who followed you around the country. This isn't just a job. This is my life. It's important to me." She glanced toward Ralph's room. "You don't know, Drew. What he was like before Scorpion. Before you came back. He was…" She blinked, surprised by how rapidly her vision had clouded. "He was lost in his head. Completely unable to connect with the world. You have  _no idea_ how much he's changed. So you can show up here and criticize Scorpion and accuse me of being reckless for doing what I do, but you don't know. Everything I do is for Ralph."

"I'm not saying you have to leave," he rebutted immediately, like he'd just been waiting for her to finish so he could cut in.  _Typical._ "I'm asking why  _you_ have to be the one risking your life all the time. You've been shot, right? Faced...fires? Bombs? Geez, Paige, it's a miracle you're still alive. Excuse me for not wanting to be the one who sees Ralph's face when I have to tell him that you're not coming home."

She'd be lying if she said she never imagined that. Never said a prayer, in a hopeless moment, that Ralph would grow up to be everything he was capable of being. With or without her.

But she lost her father. Happy lost her mother. Walter and Sylvester lost Megan. Sometimes it was beyond their control. And Paige knew that if the worst case scenario ever happened, she wanted Ralph to remember her as someone he could be proud of. "Millions of people have dangerous jobs, Drew. Parents. The day I met Scorpion, Ralph handed me my car keys because he wanted me to help them. He's always supported me." Reaching down, she unfastened the buttons on her sweater and tugged it down over her arms. She shouldn't have to hide the bruises. They were just one more reminder of a challenge she faced and won, and that was nothing to be ashamed of. "I'm glad you're worried about Ralph. You should be. But he's safe. And happy. Quite frankly, anything beyond that isn't up for discussion. I've been here for every minute of his life, and you're welcome to give your opinion, but the only person who is qualified to decide what's best for him is me."

This time, Drew didn't answer right away. He dropped onto the couch, rubbing his palms over his legs. "So I just...don't get a say in this."

Paige sighed. She tried not to continually rehash the past with him. The pain he caused was healed as much as it could be. But he still clearly had some trouble respecting her boundaries. "Why should you? That was a choice you made a long time ago, Drew. I don't ask you for much when it comes to him. The tradeoff is that you have to respect my choices, and not question them in front of Ralph. Can you handle that, or is it going to keep being a problem?"

He just looked at her again, clearly caught off guard. She so rarely got like this when they were together, so rarely stood up for herself. But scrapping it out on her own with Ralph for ten years changed her and she had no intention of going back.

"I know I've, uh, missed a lot. I can't really argue with you there." Drew frowned, tapping his fingers absentmindedly on his knee. "You've done a good job with him, Paige. And I know how much you love him. But I don't agree with you about this. I probably never will."

Paige shrugged. "That's fine. I don't need you to."

She'd blindly trusted in his decisions once, with disastrous consequences. She and Ralph already had all the love and support they needed. If it was time for her to open up more, share the weight of raising a child, then she would do it with the people who had improved her life, not sent it into a tailspin.

"Okay," he agreed begrudgingly. "I trust that you'll do what's right for Ralph. And if I have something to say, I won't say it in front of him."

_I'll stop butting in because you're the one who's done all the work_ would have been preferable, but that was as far as they were going to get tonight. "Good."

"Look, my flight's at one tomorrow, and Ralph has missed you, so...let's just hang out with him for a while, okay? No fighting."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Of course."

* * *

Three hours.

He made it exactly that long before the stillness of the garage overwhelmed him and he grabbed his keys, heading for the place he knew he should already be.

Walter didn't blame Paige for separating him from Drew. He gladly would've taken a swing if the opportunity presented itself. She was the best mother he'd ever met, and certainly did not deserve to be challenged by a self-centered deadbeat who only wanted to be a part of Ralph's life when it was convenient for him. Regardless. She was right. If he'd lost control in front of Ralph, the damage to their relationship could have been severe. That was the last thing he wanted.

Despite being acutely aware that he was staying at Paige's apartment, Walter was startled when Drew answered the door. The speech he'd rehearsed suddenly evaporated into thin air. "Oh. Uh...I need to talk to Paige."

"Sure," Drew said casually, opening the door wider. "She's in the living room."

Walter blinked. He still wasn't great at reading cues. Perhaps he was missing a vocal inflection or subtle facial expression that indicated disdain. "Okay?"

When the genius didn't move, Drew just huffed out a laugh and stepped back, throwing his hands up. "Dude, I'm already in enough trouble with her. I'm done for the day. Do what you need to do."

"Th...Thanks." He didn't know what he'd been expecting. He knew Paige wouldn't approve of a fight, but he was certainly prepared to encounter more resistance. It didn't matter. He and Paige had been putting off this conversation all week, to both of their detriment, and he couldn't wait any longer, no matter what the outcome.

She and Ralph were curled up together on the couch, watching a movie, and a twinge of something unpleasant struck Walter when he saw the pillows arranged on the other end and realized that Drew had been sitting with them. Paige withdrew her arm from Ralph, looking between her ex and the genius uncertainly. "Hey Walter," the young boy offered, a welcome smile on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Go get your telescope, kiddo," Drew suggested, nodding toward Ralph's room. "Let's head up to the roof for a while."

"Okay. Walter, are you coming?"

"In a few minutes, buddy. I, uh...have to talk to your mom first."

Ralph raised his eyebrow. "Apparently everyone does." He slid off the couch, disappearing into his room before emerging with the device. "See you up there."

"Yeah." Walter was painfully cognizant of Paige's eyes on him, but he waited until the door shut and Ralph's footsteps were audible on the stairs to turn to her. "Uh, Cabe called. Homeland got the intel they needed off the drive. They're assembling strike teams now. So that's...good."

Paige stared at him impassively. He hadn't intended to lead with that, but at least, possibly, she could take some comfort in knowing that her near-death experience would yield life-saving results. "Good," she said simply.

"I h-haven't slept yet. But I am...calm. And I…" She shifted on the couch, and for the first time, he could see her injured arm. Walter was by her side before his brain caught up, taking the seat next to her and holding her arm in both of his hands to inspect it. "What happened?"

"The guards were a little rough, that's all."  _That's all._ He felt anger build up inside him again—at Chatha's men, at Tim, at himself for failing to protect her. "Walter, I'm okay. It looks worse than it is."

When the genius lifted his head, Paige's expression had softened. She placed her hand over his and tugged it away, and Walter let her, suddenly concerned that he was hurting her. "Ralph saw them?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to hide them. I want him to know that this job is dangerous, not to make him worry, but so he'll…" She shrugged. "Be safe. Understand the consequences of being reckless."

Walter was only processing every third word she said. Seeing her hurt had always scrambled his cognitive function and he never seemed to get used to it, no matter how long she worked with Scorpion. "I'm sorry."

"There's no way you could have known about any of this."

"N-Not for that." He shook his head, and Paige fell silent. "I mean not just for that. I should have...I should have been better. You were hurt and I was s-so wrapped up in the case and my frustration with Tim that I didn't notice." One hand ran through his hair before dropping back into his lap, his gaze falling down with it. "I wasn't there. When you needed me. I told you in the rocket that I couldn't be what you needed, and I was right."

"Don't," she said softly. "The truth is I barely noticed. If I was really in pain, I would have told you."

"Would you?"

She paused. "What does that mean?"

Walter took a breath to steady himself. He glanced back up, biting the inside of his cheek. "Our communication has been less than...open, lately. You've admitted that you withhold certain information from me."

Paige bent her elbow on the back of the couch, leaning her head against her open palm. There was a long silence before she spoke again, and Walter didn't dare to break it, convinced that he would find a way to make things worse. "Yeah. I did say that." She sighed. "Well, we're here now. So let's talk."

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No. Just my arm, and that was fine with a couple of aspirin." She tilted her head. "Did you really think Tim and I were sneaking around together?"

"No. It was just...something Toby kept suggesting and I…I'm sorry," he said again. "I trust you."

"Then why did it bother you so much that he was back? Even before you knew he wasn't telling us the truth, it was like you could barely function around him."

Walter had spent far too much time pretending that the trainee's presence didn't bother him. And pretending was exactly how he'd lost Paige to Tim the first time.

"We never talk about him," the genius said quietly, taking time to gather his thoughts. "I understand why we don't. But you need to understand that…" Walter's chest tightened as the difficult memories rushed to his mind. "That watching you leave the garage with him and Ralph every night was excruciating. I thought you both finally had what you wanted and I...I was n-never going to be a part of that."

He couldn't look at her. She didn't make him. "But you are part of that. You know Ralph and I are yours now."

Those words meant more to him than she would probably ever understand. But there was a tumultuous and painful part of their relationship that hadn't healed just because they were together. Not completely. "B-But I can't forget it, Paige. What it was like when you were with him. How unhappy I was." His eyes squeezed shut as he attempted to keep his EQ in check. "And things have been so strained lately and you've been so mad at me and I...I can't help worrying that history is going to repeat itself. Or t-that seeing Tim will make you remember that dating a normal was easier." Walter could tell that she was about to interject, but he didn't want to lose his nerve before it was all out. "And then you were upset at the garage and you came home with Drew. Another person I almost lost you to once, a-and it's worse, because he's Ralph father, and I…" He inhaled sharply, his rambling causing him to run short on oxygen. "I don't want to be insecure, Paige. But I don't know the correct way to handle this."

"That's really how you remember things?" Her voice was thick, and Walter was surprised to see moisture glazing her eyes when he finally met them. She swallowed. "When Drew wanted us to move, all you had to do was ask me to stay and I did. When Tim was taking me to Tahoe, I practically begged you to stop me." Paige expelled a shaky breath, tears finally spilling onto her face. "Walter, I have  _always_ chosen you. Even when I didn't see any hope for us. Even when I didn't want to."

As much time as they spent together, he still rarely saw Paige cry. Unsure if it was the right thing to do, Walter slid his arms around her back, relieved when she buried her head into his neck and let him hold her. He brought one hand up to rest in her hair, rocking her gently. "I love you," he murmured.

The genius felt her breathing slow after a few minutes, and she came up, wiping her face with both of her hands. "Oh, god," she sniffed. "I think I probably needed that."

"Are you okay?"

Paige nodded. "You want to know something?" It was a rhetorical question; he constantly pursued knowledge, especially as it pertained to her. She continued without waiting for him to answer. "The moment things got bad on this case, I just wanted you to be there. You're always the person I want by my side when I'm scared. And wanting to be with someone even when things are hard...that's what makes it real, Walter. That's what makes it last."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She took one of his hands in hers, lacing their fingers. "Drew's leaving tomorrow. I think maybe we should take a few days off after that to spend time together. Talk more."

They needed to talk. They still had hurdles to clear. But he didn't want this to end, not now and hopefully not ever. "I love you."

"I love you too." Paige pressed her lips to his, her other hand resting at the base of his neck. She smiled when they separated. "Come on. We've got a kid waiting for us."


End file.
